The Blonde Boy From The Past
by stingxlucy1322
Summary: Taken place during the GMG (I've changed a few things about the games but it still ends the same way). Lucy met a boy about two years before she and the rest of Fairy Tail disappeared on the island for seven years. She was chosen to enter the GMG and meets a man who seems oddly familiar.
1. Chapter 1

Lucy was running after Natsu like she usually did, yelling at him to wait for her. He had said something about smelling a dragon but she had no idea what he meant by that. She eventually made it to a small crowd that had gone silent while the people in the middle talked about something. She pushed her way through and her eyes landed on Natsu, Happy, a man with blonde hair, a man with black hair, a red cat, and a green cat with a pink frog costume.

She made it as the red cat had started to say something; "You see, Natsu and those other two were raised by dragons which makes them first generation Dragon Slayers. Laxus and that guy Cobra from Oracion Seis had lacrima placed inside of them so that makes them second generation Dragon Slayers. Sting and Rogue here were raised by dragon _and_ had a lacrima placed in them. That makes them the thirst generation hybrid!" The little red cat explains cockily. Sting? Where has she heard that name before?

Sting glanced up after Lector had finished explaining about all the Dragon Slayers and his eyes widened. He had heard that the Fairy Tail mages returned from the island but he never expected to actually see _her_. But there she was, standing in all her glory. "L-Lucy... Lucy Heartfilia?" He asked quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.

Lucy tilts her head in confusion and nods. How did he know her name? He did look oddly familiar though. That scar above his right eye was nagging at her memory. She suddenly gasped and a slight blush appears on her cheeks as the blonde man runs up to her and hugs her tightly. "U-Um.."

Sting let a large smile spread across his face. "It's me, Sting."

Her eyes widen as realization crosses her. She pulls back and stares into his eyes. Was it actually that little boy she had met all those years ago? The blonde hair, the deep blue eyes, the cocky smirk she saw when she first arrived, the damn scar, of course it was him! "Oh Sting! I'm so sorry I disappeared all those years ago! You look so different now I didn't even recognize you!" She exclaimed happily as she wrapped him in another hug. She heard someone clear their throat and turned to look at Natsu, releasing Sting from the hug. "Oh, right. Natsu, this is Sting. We were really close friends for a while before we disappeared on the island." Before Natsu had time to answer though, she grabbed Sting's hand and ran off with him, Lector quickly following, leaving a gaping Natsu and a confused Rogue.

* * *

Sting stared at Lucy with a small smile on his face as she was telling him stories about what happened after she returned from the island as they sat at a small café, each of them with a cup of coffee in their hands. He wasn't really paying too much attention to what she was saying though, something about an Infinity Clock. He could only pay attention to how beautiful she actually was. He never noticed before when they were friends all those years ago, his innocent eleven and twelve-year-old mind not catching on to how sexy she actually was. Her golden hair had gotten a little longer then what he had last remembered, almost reaching her waist. Her chocolate brown eyes that he could easily get lost in if he wasn't carful. A cute nose that was above two plush pink lips that he could easily devour. A slender neck and an amazing chest followed by a pinched waist and delisously flared hips. Finally finished off with long sexy legs that he could just imagine wrapped around him as she screamed his name in pleasure. He was getting hard just looking at her in that low cut sleeveless belly shirt and small vest.

Wait. What was he doing? This was Lucy for gods sake. His old best friend and savior. He couldn't think of her in such a way, but he couldn't help himself. He never realized before how gorgeous she was. Sure, he's been with some woman when he got older, losing his virginity at seventeen and sleeping with plenty of girls after that. He remembered a few girls asking him to go out with them but he never agreed, only actually wanting to date one woman. And that woman was sitting in front of him, talking about how she was so happy to finally see him again. Yes, he will admit he had a slight crush on her at the age of twelve, but who wouldn't? She was so sweet and charming. She still is.

"So that's basically it. What about you? What did you do these past seven years?" She asked him with a bright smile, noticing he was lost in thought so she reached over and waved her hand in front of his face. "Sting?"

Sting shakes his head and clears his throat. "Sorry, was just thinking about something you said." When she gives him a look that said she was waiting for something he gives her a questioning look before remembering what she asked him. "Oh right. I didn't do much really. I found Lectors egg right after you went to the island. I was really excited for you to come back so we could hatch him together but when I found out that you disappeared I was devastated. A few months later he hatched and I raised him by myself. I would protect him and he would always defend me when people talked shit. A few years later I met Rogue and Frosch and we became friends. We were going to join fairy Tail while we waited for you and Gajeel to return but then we met someone and they brought us to Sabertooth. We joined and then four years later we found out that you returned and I was very happy, I'm not sure how Rogue was though. I think he just wants to really fight Gajeel." He chuckled.

Lucy gives him a sad smile. "I'm so sorry I made you wait all those years." She places her hand on his, giggling at the small blush on his face as she did so. "You really do look different though. If we were going by looks, technically you would be older than me. You're nineteen right?"

Sting nods. "Yeah, and the way you look you should be seventeen right?" He smirks and she nods. "Does that mean I get to call you shorty and kid now since I'm taller?"

"No way! You may be older by looks but I'm actually twenty-four." She crosses her arms and pouts.

Sting laughs and adjusts his vest. "I'm still taller though old lady." He grins as her face goes red in anger and embarrassment.

"Don't call me that you weirdo!"

"Anyways, are you in the Grand Magic Games this year?" He asks as he takes a sip of his forgotten coffee, wrinkling his lip a little in disgust as he realised it had gone cold.

She nods happily. "Are you?"

"Yup. But only eight guilds get to go through after the preliminary round so let's see if you make it through. I know I will." He smirked cockily to which she rolled her eyes at.

"You may not look the same but you still have the same attitude." She sighs with a small smile.

Sting shrugs. "That was a long time ago for me. I still remember the day we first met though." He smiles at her.

Lucy raises her eyebrows in surprise. "Really now? Even after eight years?"

"You bet. I could never forget meeting someone as amazing as you." He chuckles at the small blush on her cheeks and remembers his first time seeing her in person.

* * *

 _Sting was running through a forest, fear etched on his boyish features. He glances back to the dozen or so dark mages running after him. He was fighting two of them when all of a sudden more appeared and started to attack him and he ran. He had magic and could control it but he still wasn't extremely powerful. He was eleven after all._

 _His foot catches on a root sticking out of the dirt and he lands face first on the ground. He hisses in pain as he realises he sprained his ankle. He holds onto his right ankle and glances up to see that the mages were now surrounding him._

 _"You're dead now you little bastard!" One of them yells and runs at him with a sword._

 _Sting shuts his eyes tightly and waits for him to strike. When it never came, he opened his eyes and watched as all the mages were looking off to the side. He looks to where they are looking and his eyes widen as he sees a blonde girl standing there with a whip coiled around the sword and a snarl curling her lip. 'Is that...'_

 _"You guys are really low. Picking on a child like this. I need to teach you a lesson." Lucy says angrily and snaps her whip, sending the sword flying into one of the mages' chest. She smirks as the man screams and falls lifeless to the ground. She calls out Taurus as the men run at her. The bull starts to take on half of the mages while Lucy took on the other half._

 _Sting stared in awe as he watched the girl fight. 'She's amazing.' He thinks to himself, watching as she takes down the last one._

 _Lucy walks over to the blonde boy on the ground and kneels in front of him. "Are you okay?"_

 _Sting nods his head. "That was awesome!" He watches as she moves her bangs from her face and notices a mark on her hand. "You're from Fairy Tail? That means you must be Lucy if you can summon spirits!" He says excitedly._

 _Lucy giggles. "Yup, that's me! What's your name?"_

 _"I'm Sting Eucliffe!"_

 _"Oh? Nice name you have there, Sting. Can you use magic?" She tilts her head, wondering why a bunch of mages would go after a kid._

 _Sting nods and grins widely at her. "I'm a White Dragon Slayer!"_

 _Her eyes widen slightly at that but then a soft smile crosses her features. "Is that so? That's really cool. So where do you live so I can take you home to your parents."_

 _Sting then looks down sadly. "I actually don't have a home. I never knew my parents, I only knew Weisslogia - my dragon. I've honesty just been living in the woods after he disappeared."_

 _Lucy hugs him tightly to her. "You poor thing, would you want to live with me?" She pulls back to look at his stunned face._

 _"R-Really? But you don't even know me." Sting blushes when she smiles brightly at him._

 _"Your name is Sting Eucliffe and you're a Dragon Slayer. Sounds to me like I know you." She giggles._

 _He sits there for a while, not sure what to say. After a while he finally decides to answer. "Fine.."_

* * *

"Well I should probably go. It's late and the rules say that we have to be at the hotel before midnight." She sighs as she stands from the table and reaches for her wallet.

Sting places a hand on her arm. "I got it." He smiles and digs in his pocket before placing a few jewel on the table. When she smiles at him in thanks, he offers his arm to her. "I'll walk you."

She giggles and places her arm in his. "Wow, maybe you actually have matured. Such a gentleman now."

Sting chuckles and they start walking to her hotel in comfortable silence. He couldn't remember the last time he was this happy, probably when he first got Lector. But this time was different than when he got Lector. His heart was beating like crazy and it took everything in him to keep a blush from forming on his cheeks. He could easily tell that his little crush that he had on her all those years ago was growing into something more. Not quite love but he could tell that he would do just about anything to make her his. They arrive at her hotel and a smile crosses his face as she gives him a tight hug and walks inside. He was ecstatic. He felt a tug on his pants and looked down at a confused Lector. Oh right, he forgot he was with them. "Yes?"

"Sting, why are you hanging out with a rival guild member?" The little red cat asks.

"That's the girl I told you so much about when we were younger. That's Lucy." Sting says and picks him up when he nods. "Let's get back. It's almost midnight."

* * *

Sting was nervous. His guild made it past the preliminary round the night before but he didn't know if Lucy had made it. He would be finding out in a few minutes and he was anxious. He heard his name being called and he turned and saw that Rogue was motioning him to follow them as their guild was called. He takes a deep breath and follows them out, putting on a smirk as they left the area and into the arena. He saw that they were the first ones out and leaned against a wall with his arms crossed as he waited for the other guilds to be called. He held in the smile that wanted to creep on his face as he heard them call Fairy Tail. He secretly glanced up and had to hold in a groan. Lucy was going to be the death of him with all of those sexy outfits. Her skirt was so short that if she bent over even the slightest then he would get a look at those beautiful round cheeks. He wished he could grab them. Well, he wished he could grab all of her. He noticed that she was waving at him and he gave her a smirk. He saw her smile and turn to talk to her team and he sighs. He's a goner.

He raises his eyebrows in surprise as they call for a Fairy Tail B team. Lucy looks back over to him and he gives her a questioning look, to which he received a shrug from her. He's never heard of a guild having two teams before. But this was Fairy Tail after all, so it was to be expected. It seemed that all of the powerhouses of Fairy Tail were there, including all of the Dragon Slayers that were a part of the guild. Except Wendy. He wondered why she wasn't there. He obviously was not about to walk up and ask. Maybe he would ask Lucy if they met up alone again.

The guilds went to their stands as the first match was starting. Rufus had participated in the first round while Gray and Juvia from Fairy Tail went into the first round. He thinks it was called Hidden, he wasn't really paying attention. As the round went on, he stared at Lucy secretly. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her. She was watching the round with hope in her eyes, probably rooting for Gray to win.

In the end Rufus won while both Fairy Tail teams ended in last. He felt kind of bad for her but it's not like he could control who won. He watched as she tried to comfort Gray and had to hold in a growl as he pushed her away and ran off. What a prick.

He perked up though as they announced that Lucy would be fighting. He hasn't seen her fight in a long time so he was excited. He didn't show it obviously, but he was. He watched as she had a fierce look on her face when she entered the arena. She looked so sexy like that, he felt his member twitch as she cocked a hip to the side but his excitement soon left as a creepy looking red head entered as well. Yeah, no thank you. They started the match and his eyes widen when she summons two spirits, one who he recognized as Taurus, the bull who helped save him all those years ago. He was surprised, she was never able to summon two spirits at once before. He was proud of her.

As the match went on, the red head had started to overcome Lucy and wrapped her hair around her wrists and ankles. He had to clench his fists tightly to hold himself back so he wouldn't jump down there and Holy Ray her ass as she threatened to burn her over her guild mark. He noticed Natsu run over to the rest of their guild and grab a chunk of long red hair sticking from the ground and burn it. So that was why Lucy wasn't fighting back. The bitch threatened to hurt that little girl. He held in a smirk as Lucy got free and called upon a spirit. He bit his lip and felt his pants tighten when her spirits turned into Lucy with only a towel on. He wanted to rip out the eyes of every male here but he held himself back and just watched her. Damn she was hot as hell. He watched as she turned her blushing face toward him and he smirked at her, causing her face to turn a deeper red.

She started chanting a spell that he's never heard of before and the attack hit her dead on. The red head fell to the ground, and Lucy raised a fist as a large smile appeared on her face. She won. Damn she was so much stronger than she used to be. Everyone cheered for the blonde woman and she skipped her way back to her stand while the medic took care of the Raven Tail girl. Another round started between two guilds he didn't really care about and he left his stand, ignoring the questions his team asked.

He walked down the long hallway with his hands in his pockets as he thought about the battle. She was amazing. It was like watching a beautiful dancer preform enchanting moves. He grunted as he bumped into someone and heard a small squeak and a thud. "Watch where you-" He went to glare at the person but stopped when he saw it was Lucy. He quickly helped her up and apologized.

"It's fine, I wasn't watching where I was going so I should be the one saying sorry." She chuckles and scratched the back of her head. "Oh! Did you see my match? I won!" She says excitedly.

He chuckles and nods. "Yeah, you were amazing. You've definitely gotten stronger."

"You think so?" She blushes and fiddles with her fingers.

"Absolutely. Also I wanted to ask you something. Why isn't Wendy on one of the teams. I mean, she is a Dragon Slayer after all." He asks.

"Oh, she was on our team but she didn't make it to the hotel in time so we have Elfman instead." When he gives her a questioning look she giggles. "He's the super buff guy with white hair."

He nods slowly and crosses his arms. "I should probably head back, the next match is about to start and I want to see if my team is fighting. Maybe one day I'll get to fight you!" He laughs and walks away, leaving an annoyed Lucy. He makes it back and sees that Orga was fighting some kind of dog thing. He laughs as Orga wins in a single hit. "Hey Orga! Couldn't you have made that a little more entertaining?"

Orga grunts and walks over to the guy with a pumpkin on his head and takes the mic. Uh-Oh. He stated singing and everyone groaned. After a bit the pumpkin guy takes the mic back and Orga walks back to the stand. "How was that?" The green haired man asked.

"Uhh, good?" He asked more than answered to which Orga took as a compliment.

The next round started and it was another Fairy Tail member. It was one he hadn't seen before and he looked really creepy. He had a hat on that shadowed his eyes and a mask that covered over his nose so there wasn't really much skin on his face showing. He had bandages on his arms and legs and rugged clothes. Were those sandals? Who wore sandals regularly?

Sting sighs as he watched the fight. It was interesting since the guy was fighting a wizard saint but if it wasn't for that then he would have no interest in the battle at all. His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline as the mystery guy falls to the ground and bursts out laughing. Was this guy on something? He then covers his mouth and starts screaming. Okay yeah he definitely was on something. He eventually was knocked out from whatever he was doing and Jura was declared the winner. He wasn't sure what just happened but he didn't care, the day was over which meant he could see Lucy again.

He leaves as they announce that the day was over, quickly making his way to the Fairy Tail side. He steps around a corner and sees Lucy talking with her team as everyone else from the guild talked with one another. Someone noticed that he was there and then everyone went dead silent. He clears his throat and shuffles awkwardly. "Lucy."

She stops talking with Erza and turns to look at the blonde man standing at the entrance to their stand. "Oh, hi Sting!" She says happily and jogs over to him and gives him a large hug, to which he returned.

Everyone stared in shock, except Natsu who looked annoyed. "Why are you being so friendly with a rival member?" Gajeel grunted and gave Sting a once over.

"Because they're in love!" Mira exclaimed excitedly with hearts in her eyes.

Lucy sweat drops. "Um no Mira, we're just old friends. To me I haven't seen him in months but for him he hasn't seen me in years."

"Lovers reunited!"

"Mira, stop it please." Lucy mumbles with a small blush. "Come on Sting, let's go for a walk." She grabs his wrist and walks away with him, rolling her eyes as she heard the white haired demon squeal.

They make it to a park and sit on a bench, enjoying each others company in silence. "Y'know," Sting started and looked at her with a smirk. "You looked really good in that towel." He laughs as she punches his shoulder and starts yelling at him for being a pervert. "I'd say I was kidding so you would stop hitting me but I just can't. Any guy with eyes would agree."

She pouts at him with a huge blush across her cheeks. "Whatever you pervy Bee." She giggles as he gawks at her.

"That's pretty rude, _Blondie_." He grins at her as she glares at him. He knew she hated being called that, especially by another blonde. She would always complain about how a certain 'Stupid Sparky' would always call her that and never called her by her real name. They talked for a while after that, lots of laughing and blushing while they talked for a few hours. Sting noticed that the sun had gone down now and he stood. "We should probably head back before your team murders me." He chuckles and offers his arm to her.

She smiles and slips her arm into his. "You're right." They start walking towards her hotel in a comfortable silence. It was always like this with them, they didn't need words to enjoy each others company. They make it to her place and she hugs him goodbye before disappearing behind the door.

He sighs happily as he made his way back to his own place. His life was pretty great at the moment. His guild wasn't perfect but he had four amazing friends. Lector was always by his side -not this time but usually he was-, Rogue always gave him good advice and kept him in line, Fro was oblivious but fun, and finally Lucy; she was perfect in every way. She always found a way to make him smile and she was his oldest friend and savior. He finally made it to his place and enters, waving at Rogue as he passed by him.

"You were out pretty late this time, Sting." Rogue states as he stares at him.

Sting stops and gives him a lazy shrug. "What's your point?"

"Master isn't going to like it when he finds out that you are hanging around with a Fairy." Rogue crosses his arms.

"I don't care what he thinks." Sting growls. "Lucy is my friend." He walks into his room and shuts the door behind him. He gives a heavy sigh as he takes off his clothes, leaving him in only his boxers. Sometimes he wished that Sabertooth had a different master. Jiemma was cruel and only cared about himself, he didn't even care about his own daughter until she became strong. He flops on to his bed and yawns before his eyes start to droop. Sleep finally overcame him, filling his mind with pleasant dreams.

* * *

 _A twelve-year-old Sting made his way into the kitchen of Lucy's apartment early in the morning at the first smell of bacon. "Mornin' Blondie." Sting yawns as he sees Lucy cutting some fruit._

 _She points the knife at him with a glare. "What did I tell you about calling me that? I already have that stupid Sparky calling me that."_

 _Sting holds his hands up with a chuckle. "Okay okay, sorry." He takes a seat at her table and looks down a little sadly. "Today is the day that you go to the island right?"_

 _Lucy nods as she places the knife in the sink and adds a generous amount of food on to Stings plate before handing it to him and taking a seat beside him. "Don't look sad, I'll be back before you know it. I'll only be gone for a few days. A week tops." She giggles and ruffles his hair._

 _"What if you get attacked and the island disappears!" Sting exclaimed worriedly._

 _Lucy laughs and grabs her own plate of food. "That'll never happy. I won't ever leave you."_

 _Sting looks up at her with a pout. "Promise?"_

 _"Promise." She gives him a warm smile._

 **Hey guys I decided to change up the games a little bit as you can tell. It will all eventually still end the same way though so don't worry. Hope you liked it, love you all!**


	2. Chapter 2

It was now the second day of The Grand Magic Games and Lucy was staring out at the arena as she stood in her teams stand, a hand covering her mouth to muffle the small giggles that past her lips. The first round for the second day was a challenge called 'Chariot', which the Dragon Slayers from three different teams thought it was a good idea to participate in. Did they not know what a chariot was or something? Natsu, Gajeel, and even Sting were at the back of the moving vehicles, green faces and arguing with each other. There were so many better options for participating members in this challenge, but dense and eager Slayers wanted to participate since they didn't get to the previous day. She remembered how Sting would glare at her all the time when she forced him on a train for missions they took together. She thought it was funny when his cocky attitude left and he practically turned into a pile of goop.

She heard Sting ask Natsu why he even bothered to try and finish, to which the pink haired mage started a long speech about how he would never give up and how their guild waited seven long years for them. It brought tears to her eyes but they never shed. He was such a sweet man, always caring for others and filling people with hope. She pursed her lips as she saw Sting leave. He announced that he was not going to finish and left the arena.

Lucy quickly left her stand and rushed down the hall, worried for the poor blonde man. She rounds a corner but stops as he punches a wall with a frustrated look, hearing him mumble about how Natsu was an idiot. Lucy slowly walks up to him with a worried look in her eyes and hugs him. He tenses for a second before slowly hugging her back. "Are you okay? You look like you could pass out at any second." She whispers and pulls back to look into his darker than normal blue eyes.

He releases her and runs a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I'm okay. I know not finishing the challenge is going to come back and bite me in the ass. I embarrassed myself and my guild." He sighs and leans his back against the wall, smacking his head against it lightly and closing his eyes.

She gives him a sad smile. "It's not like your master will kick you out or anything. I think you tried your best and that's all that matters." She grabs his hand and holds it to her chest.

He opens his eyes and stares at their joined hands. He sighs again and takes his hand away from hers, bringing it up to rest gently against her cheek. He smiled slightly as she leans into his touch. "You don't know how our master is. He only wants strong members, and if we fail it shows that we are not strong enough to call ourselves Sabers."

She gives him a confused look and was about to ask him what he meant but he leaned forward and kissed her forehead and walked away, leaving a blushing Lucy. She reaches up and lightly touches the spot where he kissed her. His lips were so soft, his kiss so tender.

Was she falling for him?

She shook that thought out of her head and made her way back to her stand. When she arrived, she saw that the next round had started. It was Toby, that one dog guy she remembered seeing on Galuna island, versus some Raven Tail guy. He looked creepy. She heard Toby ask if he wanted to make a bet; a secret for a name. He agreed and they started the battle. She shivered as she saw Toby's nails grow long and green, she thought that was quite gross but it was his magic. After a while Toby lost, it honestly wasn't much of a surprise to her. She rolled her eyes as Toby announced that he couldn't find his other sock, the sock that was around his neck at that.

Lucy frowned when the other guy told him where the sock was and then tore it up. Sure she thought it was ridiculous because it was just a sock but that's also quite rude to do. She'd give someone a big Lucy Kick if they tore up her socks for no reason. They left the arena and two more were called down. She heard Elfman be called and wished him luck. She heard Erza mutter an 'Oh no..' and asked her what was wrong.

"He's fighting Bacchus. Bacchus is a very powerful wizard that I can most likely say even rivals my strength." Erza whispered as she stared out at the arena to the two talking men.

After they started battling, Elfman suddenly stopped and grinned at the other mage. She heard him agree to the bet that Bacchus had asked about earlier. Her eyes widened, was he actually agreeing to it? There was no way Elfman would win which meant that Bacchus would have his gross hands all over Elfmans sisters. She had to chuckle though when Elfman said that if he wins then Bacchus' guild name would have to be changed to 'Quatro Puppy' during the remainder of the game. Bacchus agreed and they continued fighting. She hoped Elfman would win. It was either Erza was overreacting about how strong Bacchus was or Elfman had gotten stronger and smarter in the past three months of their training because Elfman won. It was a hard fought battle and in the end, there was now a Quatro Puppy.

The next round started and it was Mira versus Jenny. She yelled a good luck to Mira as she went down to the arena. When the match started however, they both changed into bikinis. Oh, they were having a model battle. That was to be expected of course. What she didn't expect was for Mermaid Heel to jump down and join them. Then Lamia Scale's females. She heard Master Mavis tell the girls of Fairy Tail to get down there as well. She threw bikinis to all the woman and Lucy sighed. This was going to be embarrassing.

* * *

Sting bit his lip and leaned against the edge of his stand, trying to hide the obvious bulge in his pants. He didn't care about all of the other women down there. In fact, he was planning on leaving the stand until he saw Lucy walk down there in only a white bikini. He stared at her, not able to take his eyes away as she posed for the audience. But to him, he imagined that she was down there alone and was only posing for his eyes. She was drop dead gorgeous, he thought. He felt like he was going back to being a hormonal fourteen-year-old boy whenever she was around. He wanted her so bad.

He watched as her eyes trailed over to him and a large blush stained her cheeks. He smirked at that, causing her to look away. She was so innocent. He wondered if she was a virgin. God, he would be the happiest man in the world if he was the first one to take her.

The next outfit that they changed into was a school swimsuit. As he watched Lucy, he decided that he definitely preferred the bikini over that. Sure she looked good, she looks good in anything -probably even better without anything. He chuckled to himself at that thought.

After that it was back to the bikinis, but this time with thigh highs. He watched as she blushed even harder. He could tell she was so embarrassed and he thought it was adorable. Oh he was going to have so much fun teasing her about this later.

Okay, he thought, now it's getting kind of ridiculous. The judges were just shouting random things by now. Girls with glasses? Really? It wasn't that big of a difference in his opinion. Lucy did look quite cute though.

He had to hold in a groan as the next one came though. Lucy was on her hands and knees with cat ears perched atop her head and a long tail attached to her bottoms. Holy hell if he died right then and there he'd be happy.

He wasn't a huge fan of the next one. Bondage. He never thought of himself as the submissive type, and if a girl ever asked him about it he'd instantly turn her away.

Wedding dresses huh? He watched as all the women dressed up grabbed a partner, leaving Lucy alone. He was contemplating whether to go down there to her or not. His master would probably kill him. He looked up to the audience and saw that he wasn't there. This was his chance. He hoped up on the edge and was about to jump down until a hand grabbed his arm. He looked down and met deep red eyes.

"Think before you act." Was all Rogue said and then he released Sting.

Sting stared at his partner for a while. Should he really go? He looked back and saw Lucy being lifted by some guy with orange hair. Yeah, he was going. He jumped down and rushed over to Lucy. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the other man, causing her to crash into his chest. He gave a deep chuckle as she squeaked and looked up at him with a deep blush.

"S-Sting! What are you doing down here? I didn't think you'd be interested in something like this." She bit her lip and glanced away.

He brushed his fingers through her hair. "I'm always interested in stuff if you're involved." He gave her a wink when she looked up at him in surprise.

She reached up and brushed her fingers across a purple mark under his left eye and noticed he also had a split lip to go with the bruise. "What happened?" She whispered worriedly.

He smiled softly at her and grasped her hand. "I told you that our master was different from yours."

He was about to compliment about how beautiful she looked but then there was shouting and some old lady dropped into the arena and revealed her swimsuit to everyone. He cringed as he saw her dance and looked down to Lucy who looked quite disturbed at the sight. The judges said that the fun was over and he and Lucy went back to their stands. That was really weird. The match continued on with only Mira and the blonde girl in the middle. He heard that they would be making a bet, something about posing nude for something. The last one was combat gear. Did these two actually have things like that?

He watched the blonde girl change into pink armour and she laughed. He glanced over to Mira and he watched as she transformed as well. His eyes widened slightly as what stood there after a glow was what looked to be a demon. Mira ran at the other girl and his jaw dropped slightly as she took her down with one hit. He had no idea the sweet and innocent looking Fairy was so powerful. She was the one gushing about him and Lucy being lovers, never judge a book by its cover.

The next round was announced and it was finally his guilds turn. "Don't screw this up, Yukino." He told the woman as she walked by. She nodded at him and entered the arena. She was against some Mermaid Hell chick with a sword. Yeah, Yukino would win. She didn't look very strong compaired to what he knew Yukino could do. Sure, the white haired mage wasn't even close to him when it came to strength but she was still powerful.

The match started and he looked up to Lucy and saw her eyes widen as Yukino summoned two spirits. He guessed she hadn't seen another spirit holder before since they are very rare. He knew that Lucy was far more powerful than Yukino when it came to the keys, but he wasn't sure about hand to hand combat. Yukino was pretty good when it came to a fist fight but Lucy usually used her whip, spirits, or sometimes kicked her enemies. He'd have to help her with the whole arm strength issue when the games were done.

In the end, Yukino had lost. Well, looks like he was getting another team mate. Jiemma only let him off the hook with a few punches because he wasn't about to get rid of half of the Dragon Slayer duo when they hadn't fought anyone yet. If he lost in a battle, he'd be out of Sabertooth in an instant. Jiemma hated the weak.

He knew that there would be a meeting at the Sabertooth headquarters they had in Crocus so he made his way there, Lector following him closely. Once he made it, he noticed that Jiemma was already on his chair and was staring angrily at Yukino. He stood in the crowd with a small smirk on his lips. Jiemma started yelling at the white haired mage, he saw small tears well up in her eyes as he demanded for her to remove her clothes and guild mark. He thought it was quite harsh that he made her strip but it wasn't like he was going to stop him. Jiemma was the master. What Jiemma says, goes. That's the Sabertooth way.

After she collected her things and left, Sting left as well, along with Lector, Rogue, and Frosch. They made their way down a hall and Rogue stopped, causing Sting to stop as well and raise an eyebrow at his black haired companion.

"This is wrong. She shouldn't have to be kicked out because she lost a fight. She was our friend." Rogue stated and looked down.

Sting shrugged and put his hands in his pocket. "She was weak, and you know master doesn't like the weak. If you ask me, she didn't deserve the Sabertooth crest."

"Yeah! She could never compare to Sting! Sting is the strongest!" Lector grinned and high-fived Sting.

"I know that you don't actually think like that Sting. You're just trying to keep up the tough guy act so master will think that you're one of his strongest members." Rogue said and then continued making his way down the hall.

Not how he thought? What does he know? Nothing.

* * *

After convincing Lector to stay in the room, he left in search of Lucy. He needed her and he didn't know why. He needed her comfort. Her hugs. Her kisses. Her voice. Her smile. Her laugh. _He needed her_. He started up a faster pace toward her hotel. _He needed her._ He made sure to glance around to see if she was wondering the city. _He needed her._ He made it to her hotel and looked into her window and saw her dancing with a large smile on her face. _He needed her and he didn't know why._ He jumped to her windowsill and heard music playing inside. She was alone so this was his chance. He opened the window and climed inside. She hadn't noticed him yet. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and closed his eyes. He heard her yelp in surprise and felt her head turn to see who it was.

"S-Sting?" She whispered and placed her hands on his arms.

"Just be quiet." He mumbled. He was taking in her scent. He was relishing in her warmth. He was hugging her tight. Tighter as the minutes passed. He wanted to kiss her lips but he dared not. Take in her scent, love her warmth, hug tighter. _He needed her and he didn't know why._ He didn't know what had gotten into him. Was it because of what Rogue said? _He doesn't know me, only Lucy does._ He nuzzled her neck. Tighter. He took in her scent. Tighter. He never wanted to let go. Tighter.

"Sting, you're hurting me." Lucy gasped out as a whimper passed her lips.

He didn't want to let go so he only loosened his grip. He heard her gasp for hair quietly, he wanted to apologize but he didn't speak. He felt her try to move his arms away and he quickly grasped her wrists and held them to her sides. "Don't." He growled softly. He pressed his body closer. He wanted to feel her. _He wanted her._ Feel more than this. _He needed her._ Skin to skin. _Let's run away._ He felt her try to move away so he pressed her against a wall, her back still to him. _Follow me._ He heard her protest and asked what his problem was but he didn't answer. _I'll follow you._ He took in her scent. _Why do I feel like this._ His heart was pounding. _Only she understood him._

He mumbled her name and pressed his lips to her neck. _So soft._ He heard her gasp and she clenched her fists. _Beautiful._ Her heart was pounding, just like his. _Don't leave me._ He moved his head and kissed the other side of her neck. _Stay with me forever._ She whimpered. _What do you do to me._ He took in her scent. _I like you._ He turned her around and stared into her surprised eyes. _Do you like me too?_ He pinned her wrists above her head. _Perfect._ He leaned closer. _Closer._ His nose brushed against hers. _Closer._ He pressed his body to hers. _Closer._ He wanted more. _Love_ _._

"I like you."

* * *

Lucy couldn't take the thought of Stings wounds out of her mind as she made her way to her hotel room. What did he mean by their master was different? Was his master the one who hit him? That would be awful. She made it to her hotel and walked inside. She entered her room and locked the door, kicking her boots off and heading to her room. She turned on the radio lacrima and started to sway to the music. Before she knew it, she was dancing and cleaning, trying to get the horrible thoughts of Stings master out of her head. She felt a cool breeze and was about to turn around when strong arms wrapped around her waist. She yelped and turned her head and saw blonde hair.

"S-Sting?" She looked down at his gloved arms and placed her hands on them. Was he trembling? Did something happen?

"Just be quiet." She heard him mumble. Did his voice get deeper?

She heard him inhale and his hug tightened. What happened to make him act like this? He's never done this before. He hugged tighter and she heard him inhale again. Did his master hurt him again? She felt him nuzzle her neck and hugged her tighter. It was starting to get uncomfortable now. He inhaled again and hugged her tighter. It started to hurt. He hugged her tighter and she whimpered.

"Sting, you're hurting me." She gasped out.

She quietly panted for air when he loosened his hold. Something was definitely wrong with him. But what? She tried to move his hands away so she could ask him what was wrong but he grabbed her wrists and pinned them to her sides.

"Don't." She heard him growl.

He pressed closer to her and she tried to escape. This wasn't the Sting she knew. He pressed the front of her body against a wall and she started to protest. She was getting a little scared now. She heard him inhale again. Why did he keep sniffing her? She heard him mumble her name and she gasped when she felt his lips press against her neck, clenching her fists and shutting her eyes. His lips were so soft. Her heart was pounding like crazy. She felt him move to the other side of her neck and place another kiss. She whimpered, not knowing what to do in this situation. She heard him inhale once more before turning her around. She opened her eyes and watched him in surprise. So it really was him. His eyes were a darker blue and he pinned her hands above her head. She blushed as he leaned in closer, his nose brushing against hers. He pressed his body closer to her.

"I like you."

Her eyes widen when the words past his lips, and before she knew it, he was gone. She stared at the empty space in front of her, wondering what just happened. He liked her? Was this still the same Sting she was with only a few hours before? She couldn't help but wonder though, did she feel the same way?

* * *

 _"Lucy!" A now twelve-year-old Sting yelled as he ran up to the blonde woman when she entered her apartment._

 _"Hi there, Sting. Happy Birthday!" She smiled brightly and held out a bag towards him._

 _"You got me a gift?" Sting stared at it for a few seconds before taking it and looking inside. There was a small black box and he pulled it out and set the now empty bag on the ground. He opened it and his eyes widened slightly as he saw what was inside. It was a beautiful long crystal earring that shined brightly in the light of the room. He looked up at Lucy and saw eagerness in her eyes. He looks back down at the earring and smiled. "I love it. Thank you so much." He whispers and reaches up to his left ear. He pulls out the small blue stud and replaces it with the crystal. It was heavier than what he was used to but he still liked it._

 _"I'm glad you like it. I had no idea what to get you but then I saw that in a window and instantly thought of you." She giggled and hugged him._

 _He blushed when he felt her lips press to his forehead. 'I think I like her..'_

* * *

Yeah, she liked him too. But he didn't need to know that.

 **This story has been on my mind for a while now and I'm having so much fun writing it. Hope you liked it. Love you all!**


	3. Chapter 3

Sting kicked a pebble that was on the sidewalk as he made his way to his guild. ' _What the hell was I thinking? She probably thinks I'm crazy now._ ' He thought to himself with a frown. He had no idea what came over him, he didn't know why Rogue's words had effected him like that. Sure there were times that the shadow mage pissed him off but he had never acted like that before. Was it because he knew that Lucy was back so he could go to her for comfort? Possibly, but he couldn't be sure. He groaned to himself at just the thought of the things he did to her. He was such a fool, he probably scared the poor girl. It was almost like something took possession of his body and controlled it to make himself be so close to her like that. He was honestly just glad that he didn't kiss her or grope her, she would definitely never talk to him after that. He knew he would have to apologize to her tomorrow when he saw her at the games. He was no looking forward to that.

Sting eyes widened when there was an explosion in his guild, him being only a few feet away from getting hit by anything. "What the hell was that?" He quickly rushed inside, curious as to who would dare to attack the Sabertooth guild. He clenched his fists tightly as the loud voice of Natsu echoed through the building. The bastard, what gave him the right to barge into his guild and start destroying everything? He ran up beside Rogue and watched as the fire mage was yelling, fighting, and breaking things, all while demanding for Jiemma to show himself. Sting was just about to jump out there and fight when the loud voice of his master stopped everyone.

Jiemma glared at Natsu. "What is the meaning of this, and what do you want?"

"You kicked one of your guild members out just because she lost a fight? It's disgraceful! You have no right to call yourself a guild if you can't appreciate the members in it!" Natsu yelled as the flames around his fists grew larger.

"That is none of your business. What we do here is what makes us strong. If someone loses a battle, then that proves that they are weak and must be kicked out so no one assumes that the great Sabertooth guild is full of weak members. It's what makes people fear us." Jiemma explained before narrowing his eyes at the Fire Slayer.

"So then if I beat you, then that means you'll be kicked out too, right?" Natsu growled and lunged at the older man before sending an attack.

Jiemma easily blocked the attack and was getting bored already. That was, until Natsu actually landed a hit on him. Everyone stared in shock as they watched their master stumble back in surprise. Both men were about to attack again when a woman appeared between them with a blue bundle in her arms.

"Happy.." Natsu muttered with wide eyes.

"This has gone far enough. We will not report you if you leave now, you don't want to be kicked out of the games now do you?" Minerva smirked wickedly as she stroked the blue cat that was sobbing in her arms.

"Give me Happy and I'll leave." Natsu demanded and made his flames disappear.

Minerva just chuckled and dropped Happy, watching as the cat ran to Natsu with tears in his eyes while apologizing to the pink headed mage.

Just before Natsu left, he glanced back and glared at everyone. "This isn't how a guild should work." Then he left.

Sting was furious. How dare he? What they did was how they have been for many years now, which meant Natsu couldn't change that. It probably wouldn't change until Jiemma died, but that most likely wouldn't happen for a long time. He did hate how their guild was, but he knew if he complained then Jiemma would kick him out faster than he could say his own name. He didn't want to be all lovey dovey like the Fairies were, but he also didn't want the awful way Sabertooth acted. All he knew was that he wanted to fight Natsu even more now that he saw his strength. He wanted to keep his promise to Lector, and to also show Lucy how strong he had gotten after she disappeared.

* * *

The third day of The Grand Magic Games has finally arrived, and Sting was nervous. He was not prepared to face Lucy, he was embarrassed for the way he acted the night before. He didn't know how she would react to seeing him today, he expected to get a Lucy Kick straight to the head, or even a hard slap to the face. Whatever she did though, he hoped they would still be friends after. He prayed to whoever was listening that he didn't get the Lucy Kick, he felt one of those long ago when he woke up one morning and walked into her taking a bath. His poor twelve-year-old body had been in pain for hours after.

He made it to his stand with his other guild members, but instead of having Yukino, she was replaced by Minerva. The dark haired woman had a sadistic smirk on her face, he hated it. He hated her. She was just like her father, only looking for the strong and despising the weak. He glanced over to the Fairy Tail A teams stand and saw that the hulking white haired man was gone, and instead Wendy was there. He was surprised to see her but assumed that the former member was pretty beat up after his match with Bacchus. He noticed that Lucy glanced at him but quickly looked away from him with a small frown. ' _Is she blushing?_ ' He held in a smirk, instead focusing on how and when he would apologize to her.

The first round started, Orga from his team, Erza from Lucy's, and some brunette from the other Fairy Tail team. ' _She doesn't look that strong. What the fuck, is she drunk?'_ Sting raised an eyebrow and rested his chin on his hand while leaning against the balcony. A lazy smirk sat on his face as usual, knowing he had to keep a cocky attitude if he wanted Jiemma to believe he liked being in Sabertooth. The contenders drew straws after the pumpkin guy told them how the round worked. He let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes when Erza was first and requested all one hundred of the monsters. ' _Of course. They may have been missing for seven years but I suppose they're still all the same.'_ Sting thought to himself.

He listened to the murmurs of the audience and couldn't help it when his eyes naturally drifted to stare at the blonde Celestial mage. He knew it was creepy to stare but he couldn't help himself. She arrived only four days ago after seven long years of being missing and he already screwed things up with her. He hated that she wouldn't look at him. He wanted her to look back so he could get lost in her bright brown eyes. He missed her so much, all he could think about was her during his years of being at Sabertooth. He would keep old Sorcerers Weekly under his bed so he could look at pictures of her when he missed her. And he wasn't going to lie, he always thought about her whenever he hooked up with some random woman. He'd gotten slapped a few times because he actually let her name slip from his lips while in the middle of sex with someone else.

The round ended and he looked back at the arena to see that Erza actually beat all of the monsters by herself. He was impressed but was disappointed that no one else fought any of the monsters. A devise was brought to the middle of the arena, they called it the MPF, which stood for 'Magic Power Finder'. He new Orga would at least win this part, he was really strong after all. A couple people went before Orga and then when the green haired man went he obviously got the highest score. Then Jura went. Okay maybe he wouldn't win, There's no way Orga was stronger than a Wizard Saint. And of course, Jura got way higher than Orga, which Orga was not happy about. Then it was the drunk girl from the other Fairy Tail team. ' _I'd be surprised if she got higher than a hundred. She's completely wasted!'_

Sting watched as she removed her vest and revealed a strange looking tattoo across her arm. He was confused, he didn't know why she would even bother trying, there was no way she could get higher than Jura. Then his eyes nearly fell out of his head when there was a huge explosion and the numbers '9999' appeared above the machine. ' _Holy shit, these fairies aren't messing around._ ' He clenched his fists when he looked over to Lucy and saw her smiling brightly at Natsu and hugging him. He really wanted to fight that pink headed idiot so bad. He was upset about him hanging out with Lucy when they first met before the games, he breaks into his guild, fights the members, destroys almost everything, and now he has his hands on her. ' _I'm the one that loves her, not him.'_

* * *

The first round started, it was the cat lady versus some big weird guy from the puppy guild. He saw Lucy leaving her stand by herself and took this chance to go and apologize to her. He quickly left, saying he had to use the bathroom and made his way down the hall. He saw Lucy walking toward him but his heart dropped when she looked up at him and quickly turned a corner. He ran after her and saw she was running too. He was easily faster than her and caught up to her right away. He grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him, but he frowned when she glared at the ground and didn't look at him.

"Lucy," When she didn't answer and continued to stare at the ground, he sighed and wrapped her in a hug, burying his nose in her hair. She was stiff while he hugged her so he started to speak. "Look, I'm really sorry about yesterday. Rogue said some things and something in me just snapped and I ran off looking for you. During my search for you though, I started to get a weird feeling, like if I didn't get you in my arms I would lose my mind. I needed you so bad and I had no idea why. When I got to your place, it was like something took control of my body and then I did all of those things. I instantly regretted doing them while on my way back to my guild, which is now destroyed by the way." He felt her stiffness go away and he smiled when she wrapped her arms around his waist in return.

"I forgive you." She whispered to him and a small smile graced her lips. She pulled away from the hug and grabbed his gloved hand, staring at it while she traced the barely noticeable wrinkles in it. "What happened to your guild?"

Small shivers ran through his spine while she traced his palm. "Natsu," When she stopped and looked at him with wide eyes, he pulled his hand away and crossed his arms. "He didn't like that Master Jiemma kicked out Yukino so he came to our guild looking to fight him, and destroyed most of our guild in the process."

"That dumbass!" She groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I told him to leave it alone, that it wouldn't do any good. God, I am so sorry about him." She looked back up at Sting and saw the slight amusement dancing in his eyes. "I'll make sure to Lucy Kick him so hard in the head that he won't be able to see straight for a week." She frowned.

Sting chuckled and placed his hand on her head. "You do whatever, just be glad we decided to not report him and have your whole guild kicked out of the games."

Her jaw dropped at that. "He could have had us kicked out of the games for what he did?! Oh, now he's really gonna get it!" She fumed.

He couldn't help but be amused at how she was acting. He thought she was adorable when she was mad, unless it was at him, then it was scary. He stared at her with a small smile as she ranted on about different ways she was going to kill Natsu, he couldn't help but remember the times she did this exact same thing. She would come home from missions, either with bruises or singed clothes, and start yelling about how much of an idiot Natsu was. He thought it was quite funny but also odd to hear the things she said about his idol. He always heard stories about how strong Salamander was, or how he always helps other, but then he would also destroy a whole town along with the jobs he took.

He thought of Natsu to be quite a confusing person when it came to almost everything. Sting knew the Fire Slayer wasn't all that smart, but he was one hell of a fighter. While he was passing a certain door that morning when he was making his way to his stand, he couldn't help but overhear some people in the room talking about arranging a fight between four Dragon Slayers. And he was excited. They were obviously talking about him and Rogue fighting the Fairies, he just hoped they didn't choose Wendy or Laxus to fight against them. He wanted to fight Natsu, and Rogue wanted to fight Gajeel. But if they ended up fighting Laxus and Wendy, or Wendy and Gajeel, or even Laxus and Gajeel, he would be disappointed. Throughout almost his whole life he wanted to fight Natsu, not just because of the promise he made to Lector, but because he wanted to prove to the world that he was the strongest Dragon Slayer, not Natsu. Even though he was pretty sure Laxus was stronger than Natsu, but he didn't care.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Lucy called his name while waving her hand in front of his face. "Yes?"

"The first round is over, they said that your guild is next. We should probably head back." She raised an eyebrow with a small smile.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I just got lost in thought." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. She giggled and waved at him before leaving. He gave a small sigh and made his way back to his stand. He leaned against the balcony and watched as Rufus and some blonde kid faced off against each other. It was obvious Rufus would win, considering as the match went on the kid was just using some weak snow magic. He stared in disgust as Rufus made Ichiya appear in a bathtub, recreating a memory that the kid had. He rolled his eyes as Rufus defeated him almost right after that, not a single hair out of place.

When Rufus returned to the stand, Sting grinned at him. "Nice! Though, If they're gonna get people to fight Sabertooth, they need to choose stronger opponents." He chuckled as Rufus smirked and agreed. The next battle started and it was Laxus versus some guy with a metal mask from Raven Tail. The round started and Sting was surprised that The guy overpowered Laxus so easily. ' _There's no way! This guy looks like a total chump compared to Laxus!_ ' Sting thought as he watched the fight. There was no way this was real, Laxus was way stronger than that. Right? But he guessed not as the match went on and Laxus was hit over and over again, barely hitting the Raven guy in return.

His eyes widened slightly when all of a sudden it was like the world tore apart and Laxus was standing there with the whole Raven Tail team defeated on the ground. ' _An illusion._ ' He thought with a nod, that made complete sense. It turned out that the guy was actually Laxus' father, and that he wanted to know secrets about Fairy Tail. But Laxus had defeated all of them easily, without a scratch it seemed. Sting was quite impressed, he knew that if he got into a fight with Laxus, he probably wouldn't win. He'd heard stories about how crazy it got when he fought with all his power. Sure, Sting was strong, but he also wasn't dumb. He heard how Laxus had taken down Natsu with one punch, more than once at that. But he couldn't be too sure, he'd have to fight Natsu to find out where he stood on the scale of power for the Dragon Slayers.

The next round started and it was Wendy versus some pink haired girl that kept talking about love. He was sure Wendy would win, she was a Dragon Slayer after all. And to Sting, nothing could beat Dragon Slaying magic. He was shocked to find out that the pink headed little girl was a God Slayer, just like Orga. When he glanced over to the green haired man, he saw that he was just as surprised as him. He guess Orga had never met another God Slayer before. Sure they were cool, Sting thought, but they couldn't hold a candle to a Dragon Slayer. God Slayers were from lacrima only, Dragon Slayers were from being trained by actual dragons. Except from Laxus and Cobra, that is. He was surprised again when the match ended as a draw, but that was only because the God Slayer girl could heal herself. If she couldn't, Wendy definitely would have won.

The third day was finally over, with Raven Tail disqualified. He was quite excited though, he wanted to spend more time with Lucy. He bid goodbye to his teammates and took Lector in search of Lucy. When he made it to the Fairy Tail stand, he noticed Lucy excitedly talking to Erza. He was about to walk over to her when someone paced a hand on his shoulder. He turned and his blue eyes met onyx ones. "Hey, Natsu. What's up?" He asked, turning to his idol with small smile.

"Why do you keep hanging out with Lucy? We're rival guilds, I don't want anything bad happening to her because she's my best friend." Natsu said as he crossed his arms.

"Well, Natsu, she happens to be my friend too, whom I haven't seen in seven years. And you don't have to worry about her getting hurt, I'd put my life on the line for her, just like she had done for me." Sting patted the Fire Slayers shoulder reassuringly. At Natsu's nod, Sting walked over to Lucy and tapped her shoulder. "Blondie," He crooned.

Lucy sighed and turned from her conversation with Erza to glare at Sting. "If you'd like, I can fill you in on what happened not even ten minutes ago when Laxus called me that." She gave him a sweet smile.

"On second thought, Lucy sounds better." He said after glancing at the older blonde man who was holding his stomach with sweat all over his face as a man with a visor laughed and a green haired man tried to comfort him.

Lucy giggled and reached out to grab his hand in both of hers. "Oh, but since you're here, I have a question." She beamed, not noticing the small tint of pink that appeared on his face. "Our guild was gonna go Ryuzetsu Land, it's a water park. Wanna come with us?"

Sting stared at her and tried not to look at their joined hands. "Only if you'll be my escort." He smirked. When she nodded excitedly, he chucked and bid her goodbye. He left to go to his hotel and grab some jewel so he could buy a pair of swim shorts. He was beyond excited to see her in a swimsuit again.

* * *

He arrived at the park and glanced around, finding Lucy surrounded by the blue Pegasus men. He made his way over to her, the white button down shirt that was undone flapping slightly at the bottom. He decided to wear a pair of red shorts that ended just above his knees, white strings tired around the hem to keep them in place as they hung low on his hips. He stopped in front of her and watched as she smiled brightly at him. "Hey." He smiled back.

She stands up and hugs him, effectively dismissing the flirts behind her. "Hi Sting! I'm glad you made it." She motions for him to follow her as she walks to the bar. They take a seat and her eyes quickly scan his body. "You look good in red."

"I know." He chuckles when she playfully punches his arm. "You look good too. I mean, you always look good but you look even better when wearing less." He gives her a flirtatious grin.

"Buzz off, Bee." She blushes slightly and orders a strawberry smoothie while Sting ordered a beer. She gives a small sigh and raises an eyebrow at Sting. "You sure have changed a lot. I miss the innocent little boy you used to be. Now you're such a playboy."

He feigns offence and lets out a loud gasp before placing his hand to his chest. "You wound me! I'm only complimenting such a beautiful woman. How rude." He crosses his arms and turns away from her to hide the small smile that found its way to his face.

"Oh don't be so over-dramatic. I'm just saying you've probably seduced many girls before. I remember when you used to be so scared to talk to other girls." She giggles.

He turns around and leans closer to her face, their noses almost touching. "Jealous that I was with other women instead of you? Such a pervert, Blondie. Wanting me to grow older so you could take my virginity." His smile turns into a smirk when her face turns a bright red. "Have you even lost yours yet? I mean, such a beautiful lady at the age of twenty four should have done it by now I'd assume."

Lucy turns her head and pushes his face away from her. "N-No I haven't. But that doesn't matter! I-I'm waiting for someone special."

' _Holy hell this is great news. Maybe I could be her first._ ' Sting shrugs and crosses his arms over his bare chest. "Aren't I special?"

Lucy chokes on her spit when the word left his mouth. "Wh-What?! N-No, I mean, you are, but not in that way!"

"Oh jeez, what a mess. I was just teasing." Sting chuckles.

"So mean!" She punches his arm and pouts.

"You're the mean one, _Blondie_. I never hit you." He grins.

She gives him a smirk as an idea pops into her head. _'If he's gonna tease me, I'll just return the favor.'_ She reaches forward and grabs his hand. "Why don't you come with me? Since you are special to me, I wanna show you something." She presses herself to his arm. She held in a laugh when his eyes widened and a small blush appeared on his face. "Well?" She tilts her head and bites her lip. When he nodded, she gives him an innocent smile and drags him away from a bar. ' _He took the bait.'_ She leads him to a dark corner and lightly pushes him against a wall. "Close your eyes."

He swallowed thickly and nods his head slowly. He's never had a woman make him feel this way before, so he had no idea what to think. He was always the one making women speechless and flustered, but with Lucy, she made him feel that way. He slowly slid his eyes closed and felt her grab his hand and start to pull him somewhere else. He had no idea what was going on, but when his bare foot was placed onto smooth wood that swayed slightly, his eyes shot open and he glared at Lucy. "Hell no! We're not going-" His eyes widened when she pushed him into the small boat and she hopped in as well.

Lucy laughed when the small boat started moving forward and Sting turned a pale green color. She wrapped her arms around her waist as her laughter continued. She watched as he gagged and placed a hand over his mouth. "P-Payback's a bitch!"

"So cruel.." He mutters and cringed when he felt his stomach turn. This was his biggest weakness and he absolutely hated it.

"Y'know, I miss the old you." She let out a soft giggle when he attempted to growl at her. "I don't mean it in a bad way, I just mean the innocent twelve-year-old you. When you were so clueless about everything that I had to give you 'The Talk'. You were so cute when you got all embarrassed."

* * *

 _"Hey, Blondie?" A twelve-year-old Sting asked as he watched her write her novel without her knowing._

 _Lucy jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice and quickly laid her torso over her papers with a large blush. She was so focused in her writing that she didn't even hear Sting walk up next to her. "Wh-What do you want, I'm busy." She then glares at him. "And I told you not to call me Blondie!"_

 _"Sorry," He chuckled. He then tilts his head as he remembered what she was writing. "What are you writing about? I read some of it -sorry by the way- but I don't understand what they were doing. And what did you mean when you wrote 'He grasped his hard erection.' What's an erection?" He innocently questions as he tilts his head to the other side._

 _Lucy's blush deepens in color. 'That's right, he never knew his parents so I guess they never told him this stuff. Well, he is twelve now so I suppose I could tell him.' Lucy clears her throat and shoves the papers into a drawer before standing up. "Come with me to the living room, it's time to have The Talk."_

 _"The Talk?"_

 _"Yes." She makes her way to the living room and takes a seat on her couch, Sting plopping down next to her. "Alright, since you are now twelve, it seems like the appropriate age to have the sex talk with you."_

 _"What's sex?"_

 _"That's why we're having this talk so you can learn what it is. Sex is something special, especially your first time. Usually people have sex with the one's they love-"_

 _"But I love you, does that mean we have sex?"_

 _"N-No! Not like that love. You love me as a friend, I'm talking about different love. You know what kissing is right?"_

 _"Of course, you kiss me all the time!" He smiles._

 _"Not like that either. I kiss your forehead, I'm talking about kissing on the mouth." She sighs._

 _"What's the difference?"_

 _'This is going to be way harder than I thought.' She gives a small groan. "Okay, when a man and a woman are attracted to each other -more than friends- they kiss on the lips. Friends and siblings don't kiss on the lips." When he nodded, she continued. "Okay, and to know you're attracted to someone is like having a crush."_

 _"Crush?"_

 _"Yes, it means you like someone more than a friend."_

 _Sting nodded again and a small tint of pink appeared on his cheeks. 'I like her more than a friend.'_

 _"Okay, so you're supposed to kiss someone on the lips if you two like each other. And sex, well um, sex is... Sex is when a man and a woman feel warm inside and start feeling that attraction grow stronger. Kind of like you're hungry and you just really wanna have the person."_

 _"You're supposed to eat each other?" Sting stared at her in disgust._

 _"No no no! What I meant was that you just really wanna have the person like you wanna touch them all over. Women have different body parts than men as well. You know that thing between your legs that you pee out of?" She giggled when he blushed and glared at her but nodded nonetheless. "Well, girls don't have that. They have something else, like a hole of sorts."_

 _"Were the girls stabbed?" His eyes widened._

 _"No, nothing like that." She laughs. "It's just how we are born. And woman have breasts," She points to her large chest before pointing at his flat one, "and men don't."_

 _"Why do women have breasts?"_

 _"To give milk to babies." He scrunched his nose but nodded his understanding. "But, sex is when two people love each other in attraction and the thing between your legs -which is called a penis, by the way- goes into the woman's hole between her legs- a vagina. It's supposed to feel really good but you can't do it until you're older."_

 _"Why not?"_

 _"Because sex is for adults. I'll give you more details when you're a little older."_

 _Sting pouted but agreed anyways. "You never told me what an erection was."_

 _"O-Oh, right. Well, an erection is when a mans penis gets larger and hard. After a boy hits puberty, he starts to get erections when he wakes up. It's normal."_

 _"Does it hurt?"_

 _"I have no idea, Sting."_

 _"Oh, will I ever have an erection?"_

 _Lucy blushes brightly and abruptly stands up. "This conversation is over."_

* * *

"How did you figure out how to have proper sex anyways? The way I explained it was horrible." Lucy giggled as she helped Sting off of the boat when the ride was finally over.

Sting took a few calming breaths before straightening up. "I lost my virginity at seventeen to some girl I met in Crocus a couple years after I joined Sabertooth and became well-known. I was drunk and it just kinda happened, she taught me a bunch of stuff and I kind of went on from there. Now I'm awesome in bed."

"Jeez, blow up that ego anymore and your head is gonna explode." She sighed as they started walking over to the pool. They sat on the edge and let their legs lazily shift in the cool water. "I really did miss you, Sting. I'm so sorry for disappearing."

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're alive and well. And I missed you too." He saw her turn her head to him and give him a bright smile. He then smirked and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Besides! You look younger than me now so that means its okay if I have you all to myself. Both friendly and sexually!" He laughed when she roughly pushed him into the water with a loud groan.

"Pervert!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited to write this chapter. It's been on my mind for a while now.**

 **Also, shout out to Annmarie.08 (Glad my story was your first!) and SmilingArtist (Thanks so much, I try my best.), thanks for the reviews, they made me pretty happy. Glad you two like the story so much!**

 **Anyways, let's begin chapter four!**

Sting slowly made his way to his stand with Rogue and their exceeds following him. He made sure to side glance the Fairy Tail stand to see if Lucy was there, but to his disappointment, she wasn't. But as he started to reach his destination, he saw Lucy making her way towards them. A small smile graced his lips when she stopped in front of him. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up in a sec." He told Rogue, who gave a short nod before walking away with the two cats. "Hey Lucy."

"Hi Sting. I was looking for you but you weren't at your stand. Well, no one was there actually so at least I didn't cause trouble." She chuckled and gave him a bright smile. "Fourth day already huh? Well, I'm gonna participate in the first round no matter what! It gets pretty boring just sitting on the sidelines."

"I know what you mean. But I'll be cheering you on I promise you that." He crossed his arms and leaned against a wall. "Y'know, I have a feeling that I'm gonna be in the battles today. I wanna show you how strong I've gotten." He smiled softly at her and reached forward to grasp her hand in one of his, relishing in the way a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "Promise you'll watch?"

"I promise." She giggled and pulled her hand back. "And don't worry, a Celestial Mage never breaks her promise!"

"Glad to hear it." He pushed off the wall and gave her a tight hug. "Good luck."

"You too, Stingy-Bee." She sighed an pulled away from his embrace before leaving to go to her own stand.

He gave a sigh as he watched her go until he couldn't see her anymore. He made his way to his stand and saw all of his teammates there. "Sorry I'm late." He chuckled and leaned against the railing, watching people set up for the first match.

"You weren't goofing off with rival guild members were you?" Minerva raised an eyebrow at him.

' _She knows._ ' "Of course not! All these people are trash, no one can beat us." He smirks. He heard Minerva hum before the announcement went off that it would be a 'Naval Battle'. He wondered what it was, but seeing the huge floating water sphere, he guessed that they'd be battling in the water. However he tensed when Minerva said that she would take the first round. That wasn't good, if Minerva knew about him and Lucy meeting up all the time and how the blonde woman would be participating as well, it wouldn't end well. He just hoped that Lucy wouldn't be hurt.

He had to hold in a groan when he saw Lucy in a bikini once again. He'd think that he'd be used to it by now since he's seen her in it more than once, but for some reason it was like she got sexier and sexier each time he saw it. He knew Lucy would be a good choice for this one since she had Aquarius, but then again, Juvia was in it too and she used water magic. He had faith in Lucy though, he was hoping she at least got second place. He'd say first place, but there was no way she had a chance against Minerva. Not that Lucy was weak, it was that Minerva was crazy strong that she could probably rival Erza or even Laxus.

The match started and Lucy called out Aquarius. She and Juvia faced off as the other members fought. The only guy that was in there was knocked out right away, which he thought was pretty funny. Then Aquarius left, leaving Lucy to summon other spirits. That wasn't good, her only strong water spirit left her in the middle of a battle! But of course, Juvia pulled some crazy weird move about love and knocked everyone out, including herself, leaving Lucy and Minerva.

He wanted to call out to Lucy, to tell her to give up so she didn't get hurt. But he couldn't. His Master would surely kick him out of the guild for even having feelings for the blonde. He just had to keep his cool and hope that she didn't get too badly injured. He bit his tongue to hold in a growl when a timer started up for last place. That made things worse, now Lucy would definitely stay in the water as long as possible.

He clenched his fists when Minerva took Lucy's keys away. That was just playing dirty. He held his breath when Lucy almost fell out of the water, and all that air left when Minerva sent attack after attack at her. Minerva was pissed, Lucy had said that she wasn't giving up and that had hit a nerve in the black haired woman. Over and over Lucy was hit, even after the timer was done.

 _'She's torturing her!'_ Sting didn't want to watch, he hated everything about this battle. But he continued watching. He had to. He couldn't let his fake Sabertooth act disappear. When he glanced at the Fairy Tail stand with worry, he saw them all glaring at his team. He hardened his heart and gave them a smirk while laughing and waving. That seemed to please Jiemma when he glanced at his Master quickly.

He hated this. He hated the games, he hated how Sabertooth was, he hated Minerva, he hated how he had to pretend like Lucy being torture was funny, he hated everything. He wanted to run out there, to take Lucy and run away with her. She didn't deserve this, but he couldn't help but feel like it was his fault. He felt like it was his fault because he had a suspicion that Minerva knew about him and Lucy. It's not that they were dating or anything, they were just friends- even though Sting wished the first one was true.

When he looked over to Rogue, he noticed that he was looking away with a pained look. He knew that Jiemma wouldn't get mad at Rogue for not mocking the Fairies since Rogue was the strong silent type. But Sting supposed it was his own fault for having a cocky attitude.

He looked back over with relief when they called off the match, but soon that relief turned into anger when he saw how Lucy looked. She was bruised and bloodied from head to toe. His heart stopped when Minerva held Lucy by her neck out of the water and dropped her. He wanted to run out there and catch her, but he couldn't. Not when Jiemma was watching. He gave a small sigh when Natsu and Gray caught her. He hated that he feared Jiemma. If only they had a different Guild Master, then he could easily tell the whole world that Lucy was his. But he knew that one little slip from his normal arrogant self would cause Sting to be beaten by their huge Master.

He growled when Minerva stepped onto the ground and the Fairy tail Mages stepped forward. He knew what he had to do, even if he didn't want to. He jumped down and stood in front of Minerva with a smirk on his face, Orga and Rufus behind him. Worry was evident in his eyes as he glanced at Lucy before looking at Natsu. The pink headed Slayer looked back at Sting and gave a small nod, almost unnoticeable. He heard the announcers yelling about Sabertooth and Fairy Tail facing off but Erza cut them off before anyone made a move.

"You have made enemies with the worst guild possible." She said, and he knew it to be true. Saberooth never helped one another, it was always everyone for themselves. But Fairy Tail was different, if you mess with one member, you messed with the whole Guild.

After that, the Fairy Tail Mages left with Lucy to take her to the infirmary. Sting and his team went back to their stand, his smirk was still in place but inside he felt like someone stabbed him in the chest and was twisting the blade. He bit his bottom lip for a second before telling his team he was 'gonna take a leak', as he so elegantly put it.

He quickly made his way down the hall, following the scent of Lucy until he stopped in front of an open door, the room filled with both Fairy Tail teams. When Gray noticed him however, the ice mage ran over to him and grabbed the edges of his fur lined coat with a scowl on his face. Sting didn't try to fight back, he just stood there and watched as he pulled a fist back and was about to strike Sting when a hand grabbed Gray's wrist. He stared in surprise when Natsu pulled Gray away.

"Stop. He doesn't want to cause trouble, he's here to see if Luce is okay." Natsu growled.

"He laughed at her! Why the hell would he care about her?" Gray shouted.

"I don't know why he laughed, I'm sure he has his reasons. But I saw it, the pain and worry in his eyes when he was standing in front of Minerva. He's Lucy's friend, so he should be allowed to see her." Natsu crossed his arms.

Sting quietly thanked Natsu as he walked over to an unconscious Lucy. He knelt beside her bed and grabbed her hand. He gave a shaky sigh and placed a small kiss to her hand. "Please wake up." He didn't care that everyone was staring at him, he just wanted to make sure Lucy was okay. He felt his heart clench when she whimpered in her sleep. "Oh god, you didn't deserve this. I'm so sorry, Lucy. She's just so sadistic, I hate it. I hate how Sabertooth is. We aren't a guild, we're just pawns for Master Jiemma to use." He turned his sad eyes towards Natsu. "You were right, Natsu."

Natsu gave a sigh and walked over to him before placing his hand on Sting's head. "Jiemma is evil. No one should turn a guild into what Sabertooth is."

Sting nodded and quickly turned his head towards Lucy when she shifted and gave a small moan of pain. He gave her a small smile and held her hand tighter when she opened her eyes. "Lucy,"

"Sting?" She groaned quietly. She then glanced around the room and saw everyone staring at her. She whimpered and pulled her hand away from Sting's before pulling the blanket over her head. "Sorry everyone, I lost."

"What do y'mean, Luce? You got second place, that's eight points!" Natsu smiled.

"My keys?"

"Right here Lucy." Happy said as he placed her key pouch into her awaiting hands.

"Thank goodness." She whispered before falling back asleep.

"Ah, it seems everyone is here."

Sting looked up and saw the Fairy Tail Guild Master walk into the room. He felt out of place there, so he stood up to leave. "Sorry again." He mumbled before leaving, barely catching the voice of Makarov saying that the two teams needed to become one. He knew for a fact that Natsu, Erza, and Laxus would be on the team. They were all very strong. And besides, if Natsu wasn't on the team then he wouldn't be interested in fighting. But he knew if he fought Natsu, he'd definitely go all out. If he was being honest with himself, he just really wanted to kill something.

The only woman he ever loved was tortured right in front of his eyes. It made him furious. He knew that if he could, he'd probably kill Minerva after the games were done, wrath of Jiemma be damned. But he couldn't, Minerva was stronger than him. He made his way back to his stand, keeping in the glare that wanted to make its way to Minerva. He leaned against the balcony and smirked at Minerva. "That was pretty good, showed those Fairies not to mess with Tigers. They're probably crying about it too!" He chuckled, feeling his stomach turn at the thought of actually enjoying Lucy's pain.

"Indeed," She smirked as well.

The next match started and it was Blue Pegasus versus Quatro 'Puppy'. "Man! Not this guy again." Sting groans while motioning towards Ichiya. "I'm gonna go walk around for a bit, I don't really wanna watch two weak guilds fight." He places his hands behind his head as he starts to make his way out of his stand, Lector following. He stops when he sees a guard standing at the entrance though.

"Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney?" He asks.

The rest of his team turn to stare at the man, causing him to take a small step back. "Yeah, what about us?" Sting raises an eyebrow.

He clears his throat before speaking. "W-Well, I was told to tell you two to prepare for the last battle. You two will be fighting Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox."

Sting grins widely and glances at Rogue, watching as a spark of delight dances in his partner's eyes. "Perfect." Sting says before leaving. ' _This is awesome! It couldn't have turned out any better!_ ' He glances behind him to make sure no one was watching him before quickly making his way to Lucy's room. When he arrived, he saw a blushing Elfman with a sleeping brunette on him. He rolled his eyes and made his way over to Lucy. "Hey."

She turns to look at him with a bright smile. "Sting! What are you doing here?"

"I'm hurt, Blondie! I thought you'd wanna see me." He pouts and takes a seat on the edge of the bed.

"I didn't mean it like that, you big baby. I meant I thought you were watching the games." She giggles.

"My team isn't fighting so I don't see the point." He shrugs and crosses his arms. "Lucy?" When he heard her hum in response, he continued, "I'm battling Natsu in the last round for today." He places his hands in his lap and clenches his fists when her eyes widened. "I know you're hurt so you can't come watch, but I wanted to let you know that even though he's in you're guild, I want you to cheer me on. I've been looking forward to this day for years. I want to show you and Lector how strong I've become. I know that if you're cheering me on, nothing can beat me." He smiles at her then his red exceed who was curled up to Lucy as she pet him.

She gives a small smile and reaches her free hand over to grasp his. "I made you a promise. I said I'd watch you fight, didn't I? And I promise I'll be cheering you on. A Celestial Mage never breaks her promise, remember?"

"I remember." He leans forward and hugs her tightly. "Don't push yourself though. If you can't make it, I'll understand."

She hugs him back and leans her head against his chest. "I won't push myself."

He gives a small sigh before standing up. "I better get going, gotta prepare for my match. I promise I'll win." He leans down and kisses her forehead before taking his leave, not noticing the bright blush that adorned her cheeks.

* * *

" _And now, at long last we get to the battle that everybody's been waiting for_." Chapati Lola said as Sting enters the arena with Rogue. " _One guild that was considered the strongest guild in all of Fiore seven years ago, and the other currently holds the title. This is gonna be a great match, it's Fairy Tail's Natsu and Gajeel, versus Sabertooth's Sting and Rogue. You are about to witness the showdown of epic proportions, these aren't just any Mages, they're Dragon Slayers_!"

' _I've been looking forward to this all my life._ ' Sting thought as he barely caught the voice of Lector telling him to get them. He glanced over to the Fairy Tail stand and saw that Lucy wasn't there. A wave of disappointment went through his body but he knew it was probably for the best. She needed rest after all. Sting stared Natsu in the eyes, he couldn't wait to start the fight.

" _The crowd is getting super hyped up, and I don't blame them!_ " Chapati Lola says into the mic. " _This is it ladies and gentleman, the Dragon Slayers are on the battle field. Now the only question is, who will be triumphant? The Fairies, or the Tigers!"_

' _All these years, I've dreamed of fighting Natsu, and now, I finally get the chance. I'll prove to Lucy and Lector how much stronger I've gotten by beating him. Just wait!_ ' Sting thought as the four of them continued to stare, waiting for the match to finally begin.

"Everyone's dying to find out who's gonna win this round! No pressure, remember you've got thirty minutes! Let the match, begin!" Mato jumps up excitedly.

"Ready?" Sting asks as he crouches down.

"Yeah," Rogue reply's as they both run forward towards their opponents.

"You got this Sting!"

Sting looks over to the Fairy Tail stand and saw a smiling Lucy waving at him in a wheelchair, but that was his downfall. By looking away, Natsu ended up landing a hit right to his face. As he went flying through the air, Natsu jumped over and kicked him to the ground. ' _This isn't good. I came here to win but I can't do that if I get distracted by her! But, since she's here, I can show her how strong I am. Here I go!_ ' He places a hand on the ground and slides several feet away from Natsu. " _White Dragon; Roar!_ " He yells as a beam of magic shoots from his mouth.

"A laser?" Natsu yells as he just barely misses Sting's attack.

Sting continues his roar and moves his head to the right to try and hit Natsu, but the pink haired Slayer quickly jumps out of the way, causing the roar to head straight for Gajeel, who also jumps away. Sting watches as Rogue tries to attack Gajeel, only to be thrown away by a large iron sword. "Rogue!" Sting then stares in surprise as Natsu rushes at him with Rogue in hand. He collides their heads together and let fire consume them.

" _Fire Dragon; Wing Attack_!"

" _Wow! I can't believe what is happening right before my eyes! Sting and Rogue, the Twin Dragon of Firoe's mightiest guild, have been overwhelmed by Fairy Tail!_ "

Sting wipes his face as he and Rogue stand up. "You guys are tough, that's for sure. Makes it more fun." Sting smirks.

"Gajeel," Sting heard Rogue mutter behind him.

"Tell me something; did you really defeat your dragons with that measly power of yours?" Natsu asks.

"We didn't just defeat them," Sting clenches his fist. "We killed our dragons, with our bare hands!"

"But didn't you think of them as your parents too?" The Fire Slayer growls.

"That's none of your business, but if you _losers_ wanna see our Dragon Slaying power, I'll be happy to show it to ya!" Sting thrusts his hand out and starts letting his magic seep out of his body. " _White Drive."_

 _"_ _Shadow Drive,"_

"Here we go!" Sting grins and gets into a fighting stance.

"Ready Sting?" Rogue asks.

"Yup," The blonde reply's.

" _The intense staring contest continues. You could cut the tension here with a butter knife! Who will be the first to make a move?_ "

Just as the voice finished, Sting sprints forward and lands a hit on Natsu with his fist covered in light.

" _Sabertooth's Sting springs into action! Fairy Tail's Natsu barely manages to block!_ "

" _Holy White Judgement!_ " Sting grins and starts to throw punch after punch quickly to Natsu's face. ' _This is great! Now watch this, Lucy!_ ' He kicks Natsu away right as Rogue did with Gajeel, causing Natsu and Gajeel to collide. He heard them yell at one another and he lets out a laugh as he and Rogue jump into the air. "Your fight is with us, Losers! Show some respect!" He and Rogue then go rushing down towards their opponents, crashing straight into them.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's bad manners to hold back when you're fighting?" Natsu asks as he faces Sting while wiping his mouth.

Sting jumps forward and lands a punch to his face. "You're one to talk! What's the deal with that pitiful defense, huh?" Sting jumps over him and lands a hard kick to Natsu's back, sending him sliding a few feet away. He and Rogue then go rushing towards the two Fairy Tail Mages and start landing multiple punches on them before kicking them together then landing a palm hit, all while staying in sync.

Sting starts punching Natsu over and over again with his glowing fists. "Beating the crap outta my idol is pretty fuckin' sweet!" He slides and lands a punch to Natsu's stomach. "All I ever wanted to do was show the world I'm better than you. And today, it's finally happening!" He shoots some of his magic onto Natsu's stomach, creating a magic circle.

"The hell? Hey! What'd you do to me?" Natsu groans as he struggles in place.

"My White Dragon's Talon is infused with Holy Magic. Anyone branded with its stigmata becomes paralyzed." Sting grins and lets his hands start to glow again. "Now the real fun begins, you're my new punching bag!" Sting glances to the side and sees Lucy with a smile on her face. She had some kind of emotion dancing in her eyes but he couldn't tell what is was at first. Then he realized what it was, ' _She's proud of me?'_ He felt his heart swell at that. He then faced Natsu and started to rush forward, but his eyes widen when Natsu smirked and landed a flaming fist right to his face. He groans and slides backwards. "You shouldn't be able to move!" He looks up and sees smoke drifting from the other Slayer's stomach, the magic circle gone. ' _He burned off the stigmata?_ '

"You're not half bad I'll give ya that," Natsu smirks and cracks his knuckles. "but you'll have to do better."

Sting growls and Natsu punches him with a flaming fist, sending him into a wall along with Rogue, who was thrown by Gajeel.

" _And just like that, the tirade of battle has turned once again!_ "

"You guys are pretty awesome alright, no shock there." Sting says as he brings his right hand back in a fist and brings his left hand out in front of him. His magic starts to pour out of his body in massive amounts as he continues to speak. "Looks like we'll have to give you everything we've got. When we decide to go all out, there's _no way_ fire and steel can stop us." His magic starts to brighten the whole arena as he powers up. "Here it comes, Natsu! _Dragon Slayer Secret Art; Holy Nova_!" Sting yells as all the magic he let out seeps back into his body and he launches a fist at Natsu. Some of the ground breaks as his powerful attack connects with Natsu's torso.

A loud pained yell was heard from the pink headed Slayer, but no one could see because the arena was brightly lit from his attack. However, after a moment, Natsu was back on his feet. He was a little bruised but it looked almost like the attack barely fazed him. Natsu took a few breaths before rushing at Sting and kicking him so his back hit Rogue's. He and Gajeel then kicked them both away as the Twin Slayers let out painful grunts.

" _If I wasn't watching it with my own two eyes, I wouldn't believe it! Sabertooth's Twin Dragons are completely at the mercy of Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayers! Will the match end with Sabertooth face down in the dirt?_ "

Rogue groans before standing up. "We're not finished yet."

Sting groans as well before standing up. "He's right. It's not like we expected this to be easy y'know. Give us some credit." Sting heard the quiet voice of his red companion telling him to get up. ' _Don't worry Lector, I know. And my word, is my bond. I'll show you and Lucy how strong I am.'_ Sting lets out a deep breath before letting more magic pulse through him. "I'm not gonna lose." His magic bursts as light consumes his body, as well as white scales that were littered over the sides of his exposed skin. "I made a promise to Lector, and I intend to keep it!"

"Feel that? They're not playing around." Gajeel frowns.

"No kidding," Natsu agrees.

The light that was over Sting's body leaves and he takes a step forward. "Ready Rogue?"

"Yeah," His partner takes a step forward as well.

Sting springs forward and lands a hard hit to Natsu, sending the Fire Slayer flying. As Sting went after Natsu, Rogue went after Gajeel. Natsu pushes himself from a wall to shoot towards Sting using his flames on his feet to go faster. He tried to land punches on Sting but the blonde simply blocked all of the attacks that were thrown at him. Sting blocks a flaming fist that was thrown at him and sent Natsu flying once more, this time into Gajeel.

"Rogue!" Sting yells as he jumps high in the air, Rogue following suit. " _White Dragon; Holy Breath_!" A large amount of magic shoots from his mouth, the magic so bright people had to shield their eyes. When the attack finally subsided, what was left was a massive hole in the ground.

" _We may have lost the battle field but the action continues under ground! This just keeps getting better! Please enjoy the battle in crystal clear lacrima vision_."

Sting glanced at Lucy's surprised face with a smirk before diving after the falling Fire Dragon. "You can't leave 'cause we're not done yet!" Sting yells.

Natsu lands on one of the falling rocks before jumping towards Sting, his body covered in flames. " _Fire Dragon; Sword Horn_!" He hits Sting in the stomach before kicking him down so he crashes into the rubble.

Sting stands up and places his hands together. "The radiance of a White Dragon, purify's all. _Holy Ray_!" Large bursts of magic fire from his hands and straight at Natsu, who yelled in pain as the attack pierced him over and over again.

Natsu hits the ground and rolls before landing on his feet. He launches himself at Sting, but the blonde's fist connected with Natsu's forearms.

"Time to fly," Sting smirks and shoots a burst of magic into Natsu, sending him soaring through the air. Natsu shot himself back towards Sting with a flaming fist, but Sting simply blocked it and punched Natsu to the ground. Sting barely doges another flaming fist that was thrown at him before jumping behind Natsu and kicking him in the back. Sting dodged all of the attacks that were thrown at him before jumping away and sending a quick burst of magic from his mouth, right at Natsu. ' _Lector, we've waited a long time for this moment. I'll win and keep my promise to you and Lucy.'_

He heard Gajeel let out a loud pained groan as his body fell to the ground next to Natsu's from Rogue's attack _._

Sting raises a fist into the air as he stares down at the unmoving bodies that he and Rogue defeated laying on the ground. "See that, Lector? I won!" He grins widely.

"Change is inevitable," Rogue started as he walked up to Sting, "and there's the proof. The old generation battered and beaten at the hands of _true_ Dragon Slayers. Their era was grand but now it's come to an end."

Sting stays silent for a moment before responding. "Got that right."

" _Natsu and Gajeel may not be getting up from that one folks. It was intense fight for both sides, but it looks like Fairy Tail may have succumbed to the mighty Sabertooth's Twin Dragons after all._ "

Sting let his scales fade from his body as a soft smile adorned his face. "Good fight, that's the toughest I've ever had. Thanks, I mean it." Sting looks back at Rogue, his smile still in place. "I finally did it, I kept my word."

"Yeah," Rogue gives him one of his rare smiles. "It was a hard fought battle, but we won. I got to take down Gajeel, and you got to keep your promise."

" _The winner is; Sabertooth_!"

Sting grins widely and raises his hand to Rogue. "C'mon man, don't leave me hanging!" He laughs when Rogue rolls his eyes but high fives him nonetheless. "I can't believe we actually did it! It feels like a dream, quick pinch me so I know I'm aw- Ow!" Sting glares at Rogue who was chuckling. "I said pinch not punch!"

"Guess my hearing's off from the fight." Rogue chuckles.

"Ass," Sting grumbles before climbing his way out of the hole with Rogue. The audience roared with applause for the two Slayers and Sting grinned widely. "Can't take down the Twin Dragons!" He shouted.

"Lucy, come back! You shouldn't be standing!"

Sting turned his head when he heard Wendy's voice and his eyes widened when he saw Lucy running towards him. "Lucy? What the hell, how can you even wal- oof," Sting stares down at the blob of blonde hair the was leaned against his chest. Lucy wrapped her arms tightly around Sting as she started to sniffle. "Why're you crying?"

Lucy looks up at Sting with a smile on her face, tears running down her cheeks. "I'm so proud of you Sting. You did keep your promise, just like I kept mine. You've gotten so much stronger."

Sting felt his heart beat quicken as he stared down at her. He wanted to kiss her so bad, but just as he was about to lean down and capture her lips, a voice interrupted them.

" _Wow! What do we have here? A Fairy and a Tiger in love?_ "

"Shit," Sting whispered and pulled away from her. He quickly looked up in the audience and saw that Jiemma was gone. He then looked at his stand and saw a surprised Orga and Rufus but no Minerva. ' _This is either good news or bad news for me_.' Sting clears his throat before glaring at the judges. "It ain't like that! I would never date this Blondie!" Sting saw the small flash of sadness in her eyes before understanding took it's place.

"Says you, Bee. Like I'd ever wanna date a cocky bastard like you!"

"At least I don't go around whipping people, kinky bitch."

"Asshole,"

"Bimbo,"

"Showoff,"

"You're just jealous cause I'm stronger than you."

"Whatever, Lightbulb!"

"Ah yes, 'cause I shine brighter than everyone else."

"You're head's gonna explode any second now with how much ego you have. So full of yourself."

" _Uh, it seems that there's a new battle going on?_ " Chapati Lola says as he watched the two blondes argue. " _But anyways, tomorrow is a day off before the final day of The Grand Magic Games!_ "

"Sting, we need to go. The day is over and we need to get bandaged up." Rogue sighs and grabs the angry blonde man before dragging him away.

"Whatever," Sting stares at Lucy and at her small nod, he knew they would meet up later. He pretended to glare at her as Rogue drags him away.

Once they were inside, Rogue let him go and faced him. "Is there something happening between the two of you? Because you know Master wouldn't approve."

"No, we're just friends, I promise." Sting sighed. They went to an infirmary and got bandaged up before they were called to meet their Master. They had no idea why, usually he called meetings when someone did something wrong. Perhaps he really did see him and Lucy? If so, these were most likely his last moments as a Sabertooth mage and of actually feeling well. Whenever Jiemma was angry with a woman he'd humiliate her, but with a man, he'd beat him. Sting hated it, he wished they had a different Master.

They made it to their Guild and saw a large crowd in front of Jiemma as usual. When he called their names, they both walked to the front of the crowd. They stood in front of him in confusion. Was he angry at them?

"I'm surprised you two took so long to take down those Fairies. You two would always go around saying how strong you were, so why did it take so long?" Jiemma asks in annoyance.

"They were stronger than we thought. We had to use our Dragon Force because we underestimated them." Rogue stares at the ground as he speaks.

Jiemma stands from his throne and stomps over to Sting and Rogue. "I didn't ask to hear your pitiful excuses, Rogue. You almost lost and tainted the name of Fiore's mightiest guild." When Rogue looked up at the glaring face of Jiemma, the larger man continued, "You may go back now." When Rogue started to walk back to the crowd with Sting following, Jiemma growled out, "I didn't say you, Sting."

Sting froze. This was it, he knew about him and Lucy. He turned and stood in front of the massive Guild Master. His heart was pounding in fear, but he knew that no matter what, he'd take anything thrown at him if it meant he could stay with Lucy. "Yes Master Jiemma." It wasn't a question, he knew Jiemma didn't like being questioned about his actions.

"Who was that blonde girl?"

"A friend, Sir."

"Don't lie to me!" He yelled and Sting felt Jiemma's magic start to flow out of his body. "She was a damn Fairy!"

Sting flinched before groaning in pain as Jiemma's magic sent him flying into a wall. He heard Lector yell his name as he went crashing into a wall. Jiemma walked over to him and kicked him roughly in the gut so he hit the same wall. He let out a small scream of pain and landed to the ground.

"If you're going to be _friends_ with a Fairy, then you can join the trash! Get out. I don't want to see your face her again. Our gild has no room for people who show affection towards others." Jiemma growled.

"Aw c'mon Master, Sting and Rogue won, isn't that what matters the most?" Sting looked up and saw Lector standing in front of him with a frightened look on his face. "I know Sting is friend's with a Fairy, but that's okay! He still gave the fight his all and I'm proud of him!"

"Lector," Sting stared in awe at his little friend.

"If you want my opinion, it's okay to have more friends so you can win fights for them. So you can show those friends how strong you are and so you can grow as a person. Having her as a friend gave Sting the boost to defeat his opponent. She's the reason he won! So why not just let it slide?" Lector waves his hand at Jiemma with a nervous smile.

"Who the hell are you?" Jiemma asks without facing the cat.

"Huh?" Lector stares in surprise and lifts the back of his vest up to show his Sabertooth mark. "What do y'mean Master? I-I'm a bona fide member, I've even got the Saber crest to prove it... don'tcha see..?" Lector's tail curls down if fright as magic starts flowing from Jiemma once more.

"This is a total abomination!" Jiemma growls as Lector starts whimpering. "Who defied our guild's sacred crest by placing it on this mangy little creature?" Jiemma yells and thrusts a hand towards Lector, letting his magic consume the small cat.

Lector stares in horror as he feels his body start to tingle. He looked over and saw Sting's panicked face. He felt his body start to float in the air as he slowly disappeared. "Help me, Sting!"

"No, Lector!" Sting yells as he watches his best friend disappear right before his eyes. He didn't notice the shocked faces of his guild members as tears start to streams down his cheeks.

"It got what it deserves. If you're smart, you'll remove your emblem before you join the Fleabag."

Sting started whimpering as those words left Jiemma's lips. It wasn't fair, what did Lector do that was so wrong? He didn't deserve that fate. Sting felt his heart clench tightly at the loss and he let out a loud roar of pain. He sobbed loudly and slowly stood to his feet.

"Would you stop your damn blubbering?"

"What have you done? What the hell have you done!" Sting shouts with his hands covering his face.

"Silence! It was just a lousy cat."

Sting growls and glares at Jiemma through his fingers. All he could see was red. His pain consumed him and he rushed forward, shooting a large amount of magic through his Master's stomach. Jiemma screamed in pain as he fell to the ground. Sting stood there panting, glaring at the body on the ground. He heard the whispers of surprise from his fellow guild members but chose to ignore them.

"Mark my words, Sting, you will pay, I swear it!" Jiemma groans from the ground.

"I doubt that," Minerva says as she makes her way over to the two. "Your rein of terror ends here, father, and not a moment too soon." She stops a few feet away from them. "Don't worry about your seat, it will be filled by someone worthy. Since he's beaten you, I believe Sting should have the honor."

"She thinks Sting should be our new master?" Orga asks.

"I can't," Sting starts.

"Minerva, you insolent wench. How dare you?" Jiemma groans.

"What's your mantra? Sabertooth has no room for losers. Or is there suddenly and exception to that rule?" Jiemma glares at Minerva as she turns her head to look at Sting. "Look Sting, this is your power. The power of raging emotions."

"I'm not sure that I understand." Sting mutters as he stares at her, his eyes still shining from the tears he shed.

"It seems you were influenced by my father's dogmatic views on power. Friend's are a necessary, strength is everything. But deep down you're different, your feelings for Lector are what gave you strength."

Sting looks down as a tear slides from his eye.

"Rejoice, that strength is yours to cultivate however you see fit."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think that I can." His lip trembles slightly.

"Don't worry Sting, your Lector's alive and well." Minerva smirks.

Sting looks back up at Minerva in surprise. "What?"

"It may have looked like my father's magic disintegrated him, but he was just teleported. He's probably shaken, but he's safe nonetheless."

Sting gasps and takes a step forward. "You mean it, M'lady? He's still alive?" He falls to his knees as relief consumes him. He places his hands on the ground and stares at the floor. "Thank you, thank you for keeping him safe M'lady. You can bring him back now. Thank you," He wipes his tears.

"Don't be naive." She glares at the blonde on the ground. "You'll see your dear Lector again, but only after we've won The Grand Magic Games."

"What're you saying, M'lady? Please stop! Bring Lector back now, why're you doing this to me?" He cries.

"You should be thankful I'm not like my father. The Sabertooth guild is still destined for greatness, and I wont let the status of Fiore's best be taken from us. Yes you have a little Fairy friend, however losing Lector seems to have given you new strength. In that respect, you could say you've been reborn. Surely you can feel the difference. Your sense of loss, turned into power. One strong enough to leave my father in a helpless heap on the floor. But if we're to survive you must show the world you new found strength. Only then will our guild's rein be secure."

Sting stares at her for a moment before turning his gaze to the floor.

"Oh and before you get it in your head to blow a hole through me, remember that Lector's life can still come to and end if I will it." She says as she starts to walk away.

Sting stands up and clenches his fists. "M'lady," She stops walking as he speaks. "if I win, you'll return Lector unharmed?"

Minerva chuckles. "That's right. Just win the games, use those feelings to crush our enemies for good."

"Alright, I'll win this for Lector, count on it."

* * *

Sting had left his guild a while ago and was now wondering the quiet streets of Crocus. It was late at night, so he wasn't surprised that he hasn't seen anyone. He stopped as he reached Lucy's hotel, he could tell she was the only one in her room since her scent was the strongest and the other scents only barely lingered. He clenched his fists and glared at the ground. Perhaps Lucy would know how to calm him down. He took a deep breath before hopping up to the window that led to her room. He looked inside and saw Lucy humming as she read a book on her bed.

He stepped into the room and saw Lucy look up and give him a smile, only for it to fall when she saw his pained face. When she motioned him over, he look a seat on the bed next to her. He clenched his teeth as tears threatened to fall once more. He didn't want to cry in front of her. However, as soon as her arms wrapped around him he did. The tears flowed freely from his eyes and he quietly sobbed into her shoulder.

"What happened? Are you okay?" She whispered and ran her fingers through his hair.

"L-Lector,"

Her eyes widened slightly and she places a kiss to his forehead. "What about him, Sweetie? Is he okay?" When Sting shook his head, she inhaled sharply. What could have happened to the little red cat to make Sting act this way? "Sting, please talk to me. Tell me what happened." He still didn't answer her, he just continued to cry. She had to think of a way to calm him down, but how? He usually loved it when she pet his hair, but it didn't seem to work. Her mind ran through things she could try until she settled on one. She would have to try it, hopefully it would work.

Sting's eyes widened when Lucy moved to straddle his lap. He sniffled as he stared into her eyes. What was she doing? He felt her grab his hands and place them on her hips. His breath caught in his throat when she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. Was this a dream? Her arms wrapped around his neck as she deepened the kiss. He groaned before closing his eyes and kissing her back. He had no idea what had gotten into her but he wasn't complaining. His heart still aced over the loss of his best friend but having her lips so gently pressed against his own calmed him somehow.

Sting knew the only way to get Lector back was for him to beat the games, and he hated that. Lector did nothing wrong. Lector was being punished for Sting's actions. It wasn't fair. Guild's shouldn't work this way, if you're friends with someone, you're weak. If you lose, you're out of the Guild. Jiemma was a horrible person. But Minerva said something about Sting becoming the new Master. Sting didn't know what to think of that. He was nineteen, was that not too young? Though, he heard rumors that Fairy Tail's first Master was only thirteen, so he supposed age didn't really matter. He just couldn't picture himself as a Guild Master. Would he make a good one? Though, he supposed anyone would be better than Jiemma.

Sting snapped out of his thoughts when Lucy pulled away, a small blush adorning her cheeks. "What was that for?" He whispers as his hands start to slide up and down her back.

Lucy's blush deepens in color and she looks down. "I didn't know how else to calm you down." She mumbles and brings her hands down to twiddle her fingers together. After a moment, she looks back up into his deep blue eyes. "Wanna tell me what happened now?"

Sting let out a deep sigh and wraps his arms around her waist, bringing her closer. "Mas- I mean Jiemma found out about us being friends and he wasn't happy. He believes that anyone who cares for someone or who lost a fight didn't deserve to be in Sabertooth. He attacked me and told me to leave the guild, but Lector stepped in and told him it was okay that I was friends with you. That me being friends with you is what gave me the strength to win." He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes at the memory. "Master got mad that there was a cat that bared the Saber crest and shot his magic at him, making him disappear."

He heard Lucy gasp and he leaned back to look into her watery eyes. "That's awful," She whimpers.

"I then found out that M'la- Minerva teleported him away before he was killed. I was so relieved that he was alive, but she said she wouldn't give him back unless we won the games. She told me that since I beat Jiemma that I should be the new Guild Master. I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Lucy stared at him for a moment before leaning forward and kissing his forehead. "I think you should do it. For what I know, Jiemma was an awful Guild Master. Sabertooth needs a Master that is strong but also cares for the members. Like Master Makarov. I think you'd make a great Guild Master." She gives him a soft smile as she starts running her fingers through his hair. "As for the Lector situation, I have a feeling it will all turn out okay, whether you win or not. I'm sure he'll be okay."

Sting smiles at her and brings his hands to rest on her waist. "You always know just what to say." He saw her eyes dart down to look at his lips, her tongue swiping over her own. He groaned and pulled her forward, pressing their lips together once again. She gasped and he took that chance to slip his tongue into her mouth. He had no idea what would happen between the two of them after this, but he didn't care at the moment. He just wanted to savor the moment of having her pressed so closely to him while they kissed. Their tongues danced together and he couldn't help but think that this was the best kiss he's ever had.

He groaned again when she rolled her hips against him. ' _This woman is going to be the death of me. I need to stop this before it gets too far._ ' He slowed their kiss and pulled away to stare into her lust filled eyes. He was about to ask her what they would become from this but he heard someone quickly approaching her room. He stood up and adjusted himself right before Natsu came barging into the room. He was covered in bandages but seemed fine overall.

"Sting? What're you doing here?" Natsu walked over to them and tilted his head.

"Ah, just wanted to talk to Lucy for a sec. Also, I wanted to thank you for the fight. It was fun." Sting chuckles and fist bumped Natsu.

"Oh yeah! No hard feelings either. Though I feel like I could have done better. Let's fight again sometime!" The Fire Slayer grins widely.

"Definitely." Sting turns to Lucy and waves at her. "See you tomorrow."

"O-Of course." Lucy blushes.

"Bye Natsu." Sting says and leaves the room. ' _I can't hold back tomorrow. I need to win so I can get Lector back. And once I do, I'll ask Lucy to be mine._ '

* * *

 **Wow okay, this chapter is twice as long from how long my chapters usually are. Wasn't intentional but whatever, I still like how it turned out.**


	5. Chapter 5

Sting was worried, Lucy had told him that they would meet up on their day off but he didn't see her at all. When he went to her hotel, she was no where to be found. He went there a couple of times to see if maybe she was out shopping or something but every time he went there she wasn't. Was she avoiding him? Was she embarrassed by the kiss? Whatever the reason he just hoped that she was okay.

The final day has arrived and Sting wasn't feeling well at all. It wasn't that he was sick, he was just upset about Lector being gone and not seeing Lucy yesterday. Since Jiemma was finally gone, he didn't have to keep up his fake cocky attitude, and he was grateful for that. He hated acting like he enjoyed people's suffering, it made him sick. He couldn't understand why Jiemma and Minerva actually liked it. Though, he supposed Minerva only did because of how Jiemma raised her. He was cruel to her when she was young, teaching her that if she wanted to be accepted by her father then she needed to be strong.

Sting knew that Minerva used to be a good person, but Jiemma took that loving heart away from her and shattered it into a million pieces. Sting just hoped that one day she'd come to her senses and leave that darkness behind her. Sure, he was angry at her right now for torturing Lucy but he knew one day they would all put that behind them once she came back into the light. At least, he hoped so.

The team of Sabertooth walked out into the arena once their name was called for second place, but Sting didn't smile or smirk, he just kept a stoic expression in place. He could hear people murmuring about how there was only one cat rooting for them instead of two, and it made his heart clench. ' _Lector_.' His eyes widen when he hears Lector's voice calling to him and he looks up towards Frosch, an image of his best friend standing there and cheering him on.

" _Hey, Sting! You totally got this thing in the bag old buddy, they're only one point ahead, that's nothing for a guy like you!"_

After he said that, the image of Lector faded away and Sting looks away. "You're right about that pal, and I won't let you down, 'cause I'm not losin'." He gives a small smile. The announcement for Fairy Tail in first place goes off and he hears Rogue start speaking.

"Well, this is it. You ready?"

"Yeah," Sting replies. Sting watches as the members of Fairy Tail enter the arena and he notices that Natsu is missing and was now replaced by Juvia.

"Natsu is out of the competition?" Rogue asks in surprise.

Stink smirks. "That's alright with me. In fact, that's the best news I've heard all day."

"I suppose you're right." Rogue sighs.

Sting was curious as to why Natsu wasn't in the battle but he supposed it made his plan easier. He knew that Natsu could have kept on fighting that day, he just took too long to get back up after Sting knocked him down. He looked up to the Fairy Tail stand and saw that Lucy wasn't there. ' _Both Natsu and Lucy are missing? Now I know for sure that something is up. I hope she's okay, Natsu too._ ' Sting barely heard Chapati Lola say that it was an all team battle while he was lost in thought.

Everyone left the arena and got into place, waiting for the final round to start. Sting sat on a crate patiently with his right leg laying on the top and his left leg propped up, his left arm resting against it with his cheek on his palm. He had his eyes closed as thoughts of Lector consumed his mind. This was it, the final day. He'd do anything to get Lector back, even if it meant fighting the guild he used to look up to.

They decided to pick Minerva as their team's leader. ' _Not a surprise._ ' Sting thought to himself. Minerva was strong so it'd be hard to take her down. Maybe Erza could? No, he wasn't supposed to _want_ someone to take down his team's leader. She was worth the most points, and if Fairy Tail got those points it wouldn't be good considering they were in first already.

The final match finally began and all of the Sabertooth members split up. To Jiemma, teamwork was below Sabertooth. The only reason he made an exception for himself and Rogue was because they had trained together and made it so that their opposite magic complimented each other so well. Almost like their magic was made for each other.

As Sting was running, he kept looking around for a good hiding place. He needed one for his plan. He had climbed rooftops to look for good places, and while on his search, he spotted something interesting. Bacchus was challenging two Lamia Scale members. As he observed the drunken man, something came to his mind. Quatro Puppy's master had said that Bacchus was their strongest member. That could only mean one thing; Their leader. He hopped down from the rooftop and landed a hard punch to the mans back.

' _That was easy._ ' But that wasn't a bad thing, he needed to save his magic after all. When the announcement went off saying he earned five points, it only confirmed his thought about him being the leader. Too predictable. He glared up at the two other mages, planning on taking them out just as quickly before leaving. However, Kagura and sliced them down before he got the chance to. While she was distracted, he took the chance to escape. He knew she was strong, and that wouldn't be good for his plan. He'd be wasting magic power.

After Sting took out Bacchus, he had put them back in first place with four points ahead. After finding a suitable hiding spot, he took a seat on some stone sticking out of the wall in the alley. An announcement went off again saying that the Fairy Tail mages had yet to move from their positions. ' _Looks like I'm not the only one with a plan._ '

When they finally decided to take off after staying in place for so long, they took out a few members here and there. After another while, a match between Fairy Tail and Sabertooth started. ' _Rufus and Gray huh? This'll be interesting. Rufus is strong and could easily outsmart Gray and take him out quickly, but something is telling me otherwise._ ' Sting smirks while the match continues. He'd rather be out there fighting but he had to keep to his plan if he wanted to get Lector back.

After waiting for what felt like forever, the match ended. Sting looked up to a screen that was above him and chuckled. ' _So Rufus lost after all. Impressive Gray.'_ He then looked down sadly as memories of him losing his best friend flooded his mind. ' _Lector.._ ' He then glared at the wall in front of him "Yeah, I'll definitely win for Lector."

He then looks back up at the screen again, a small smirk finding its way to his face when he sees who is fighting now. ' _M'lady, Kagura, and Erza. That'll be a mess._ '

Then, another battle started. Laxus and Orga. _'Hm, That's a tough one to predict._ '

Finally, one last battle broke out. ' _C'mon Rogue, you can beat Gajeel again._ '

It was just Sting and his thoughts while he waited for the end results. If he was lucky, maybe he'd get to fight someone in the end. He'd just have to be patient. Sting's eyes shot away from the screen and to the end of the alley when he heard a faint pained scream. ' _Rogue?_ ' He'd never heard Rogue scream like that, had something happened to him? There had been times when him and Rogue fought large beasts and Rogue had gotten hit pretty hard, but even then in was never a loud scream like that. Rogue had also been hit with Gajeel's iron before, and it was never more than a grunt.

He looked back up at the screen and saw Rogue covered in strange scales. ' _Those aren't Rogue's scales. What the fuck is happening?_ '

Sure, Jiemma taught them to care about no one but themselves but Rogue was his friend. Even if he was told he couldn't have friends, him and Rogue were still very close and he cared for his black haired partner. As did Rogue care for him. They just never showed it in front of anyone except their cats.

Sting glared at the image of the man attacking Gajeel. That wasn't Rogue, he knew it. He just seemed different somehow, almost like the opposite of the actual Rogue. He wanted to go out there and help Rogue, but he couldn't. He needed to stick with the plan. Besides, he had faith in Rogue. He was one tough son of a bitch.

Sting gave a sigh before looking away. He wondered if it was the shadows. Rogue had always talked about how there was a downfall to using the magic that he did. He said that the darkness would always be following him, and that darkness was the shadows. Was it possible for shadows to possess a person? He just hoped that Rogue wouldn't be hurt by whatever was wrong with him. ' _Be safe, Rogue.'_

Sting didn't watch the fight, but in the end, Gajeel had beaten Rogue. It was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because whatever was possessing Rogue was now gone. It was bad because that meant Fairy Tail had gotten another point from taking out his teammate.

Next to be taken out was Orga by Jura. ' _Well at least Fairy Tail didn't get the point.'_ He chuckles. ' _Looks like Laxus is going to be out of the picture. Hopefully I won't have to go up against Jura, he's a Saint for a reason._ '

The sun had started to set by the time Erza defeated Minerva. ' _So M'lady falls after all and Laxus has beaten Jura. Fairy Tail is really something. In just a short amount of time, I'll be facing the whole team of Fairy Tail. Wish me luck, Lector, Lucy._ ' It had all gone according to plan. He observed the Fairies closely, watching their moves and studying their magic. He had a feeling that they would be the only one's left by the end, that was why he had hidden away. He wanted to save his magic so he could take the rest down with ease. So he'd get Lector back for sure. Yeah, it was for Lector's sake, so he could be with his best friend again.

"What do ya know, it's all gone exactly as I hoped it would. Must be fate. That or good karma." By this time night had come and Sting sat there smirking. With how the points were, if he took out all of the members then Sabertooth would get just enough points to win. The members were all covered in injuries so he knew he could win.

He left the alley in search for a good fighting place. When he found a clearing, he raised a fist and shot a burst of his magic into the air. "I'm ready Fairy Tail! Let's go, come and get me!" He grinned up at he sky as he waited for them. This was it, the moment of truth. He'd get to see Lector soon.

Sting watched as all of the members slowly made their way to him. They stood in front of him, bruised and bloodied from head to toe. "Now there's a sight. It's weird, being surrounded by hero's from my childhood really isn't all that grand."

"Enough chit chat. We didn't come out here to make pals," Grajeel said, a small snarl pulling at his lip.

"We'll fight you one on one. Pick somebody." Gray added.

Sting smirked and gave a small shrug. "Why not all at once? With those injuries, one on one would be boring."

Juvia took a step forward. "Do not underestimate us, ask your comrades."

Sting places his hands on his hips. "Wouldn't dream of it. I'm trying to treat you with the respect you deserve." Sting clenches his fists and thrusts his arms back. "That's why I'll destroy you all together! I've been waiting for this moment. I'll show you how strong I've become, I'll do it for Lector!"

"Oh yeah?" Gray asks.

"You wanna fight us by yourself?" Laxus frowns. "Are you serious?"

"'Course I am." Sting waves his hand. "I'm more than a match for you." He then brings his fist in front of him. "Losing Lector brought me pain, but it also granted me new power! For Lector, for my best friend, I'm gonna beat you and win it all!"

Erza then took a step forward, the stick she was using for support tapping lightly on the ground. "Very well. If you're so determined to see this to the end, we'll give you the fight you want."

"Now you're talkin'!" Sting stretches his fists to his sides, letting his magic flow around him in a circle. "Prepare to witness the awakened power of a Dragon Slayer!" Sting shuts his eyes with a smirk. When he reopened them however, they widened and his magic stopped flowing as he saw the determined looks on their faces. ' _Why am I hesitating? They're all bruised and beaten. They'd probably fall over if I just blew on them!_ ' Sting then starts to tremble slightly. ' _Get a grip. You've come this far, why the hell are you wavering? All you have to do is beat these guys, and you'll have done everything M'lady told you. You'll get to see Lector again. Yes, do it for him._ ' An image of his red friend smiling popped into his head and he took a shaky step forward. ' _Keep moving. I've grown so much. My feelings for Lector have made me stronger than ever! They're weak! They've got nothing, I can win!'_ He takes another step forward before falling to his knees. He places his hands on his knees and stares at the ground. "I can't do it. I can't beat you. I surrender." Sting feels tears well up in his eyes as he stares at the pavement.

" _It's over!_ " The voice of Chapati Lola rings out through the quiet night. " _The winner of the Grand Magic Games is; Fairy Tail!_ " Fireworks went off as loud cheers were heard from the arena.

Erza slowly made her way over to the man on the ground. "Sting, why did you back down from the fight?"

"I was so sure I'd win," Sting said, his voice trembling slightly, "that's all I had to do, and I would see him again. But all of the sudden, it's like I just lost hope. I don't know why exactly, but I know I don't have your strength. And I guess I felt like I didn't deserve to see him, not yet."

"You still can." Erza smiles.

"Erzy!"

Sting looked up when he heard another voice and his eyes widened. There, in the girls arms, was a sleeping Lector. As soon as Lector started to open his eyes, Sting ran, stumbling slightly. He watched Lector struggle in the girls arms after noticing Sting before she placed him down. "Lector!" He then tripped over his own feet with a grunt in his excitement at seeing his best friend.

Lector whimpered and ran towards the fallen man. "Sting, it's you!"

Sting lifts himself onto his knees as tears stream from his eyes. "You're okay! Lector!" He cries, a large smile on his face. He gives a small laugh of joy as Lector jumps into his awaiting arms. He heard the exceed sob loudly and he tightened his hold on him. He sniffled lightly and closed his eyes. It almost felt like a dream to him, having his best friend back. It was like the pieces of his heart that broke off formed together again and it swelled with happiness.

Sting continued to hug Lector while the fairy Tail members conversed with each other. He heard them mention something about a signal flare and he placed a smiling Lector down. "Knowing our Salamander, he probably just forgot to shoot the thing." Gajeel crosses his arms.

"Signal flare?" Sting mutters while wiping his tears.

"What do ya think they're talkin' about?" Lector asks and turns to face Sting.

"Tell me somethin'" Sting started.

Gajeel storms over to the blonde man while being held back by Juvia. "Oh I know you ain't talkin' to me, Punk! Scram!" He yells while Lector cowers behind Sting.

"Calm down!" Juvia says while struggling to hold the Iron Slayer back

"Sorry but," Sting looks down and Gajeel and Juvia stare at him in confusion. "Where's Natsu? Why wasn't he in the fight today? Lucy too, I haven't seen her in a while." He looks back up at them with a small frown.

"What's the deal, are they hurt? Are they gonna be okay?" Lector asks as he walks out from behind Sting.

Sting gives a sigh when they don't answer him. "I understand, it's secret. Just tell me if they're okay, please."

Erza sighs. "They're okay." ' _I hope._ '

Sting smiles and pats Lector's head. "That's good. I was worried."

* * *

A little after the games had ended, the guilds were called to meet in an area where the king was. Sting had no idea what was going on, but he hoped it was nothing serious.

"Thank you all for coming," The deep voice of the king rang out. Which was odd, considering his size. "I hate to spoil the mood of the splendid display of wizardry we've seen today but, I'm afraid Fiore's heart may soon be in the claws of a dragon horde."

Murmurs were heard throughout the crowd.

"As we speak," The king continued, "a large scale counter offensive is under way at the castle." Gasps were heard as he said that. "The Eclipse Cannon. We will use it to wipe out the attacking dragons, all ten thousand of them at once." He tilts his head down and closes his eyes. "I can sense your concern. Regrettably given the sheer number of the dragons forces, we expect that at most a few hundred will survive the attack." He then looks back up and raises his arms in the air. "So I implore you mages, please lend Fiore your assistance in dealing with this crisis. You are the best hope we have for slaying any dragons the Eclipse cannot." He then bows, "I beg of you, don't let this kingdom fall into ruin."

It was silent for what felt like forever until the crowd burst into cheers. "This kingdom has always been good to us mages." Sting grins and crosses his arms.

"It's our duty to protect it." Rogue smiles.

Tears then start to fall from the kings eyes. "Thank you all."

"We're up against dragons," Sting frowns slightly.

"A perfect opportunity for us Dragon Slayers to shine." Rogue chuckles.

"Those flying lizards can't beat you!" Lector yells excitedly, hugging onto Frosch.

"I'll cheer for both of you, 'kay!" Frosch chimes.

"Where's M'lady?" Rufus asks, turning to face Orga.

"Who knows," He sighs.

"Thank you," The king whimpers, "Thank you. I mean it, thank you, pumpkin." He didn't even notice when his voice started to slowly rise in pitch as he spoke.

Everyone stares at him in shock after he finished speaking.

"Huh?" The king looks around, slightly flustered before clearing his throat. "Our fate is in your hands, mages!" He yelled, causing everyone to cheer loudly.

A loud roar sounded throughout the night sky and some stone was destroyed off to the side of the crowd. "Does that mean they're here?" Sting asks in a slight panic.

"I think they are," Rogue says as he stared at the rubble.

The guilds split up and headed their separate ways to fight the dragons. Once Sabertooth encountered a red dragon that was flying, they stopped and glared at the massive beast. It landed roughly on the ground, causing rubble and dust to fly all round it.

"It's time for an all out Sabertooth assault, you guys ready?" Sting yells while staring up at the dragon.

"We're ready!" Rogue replied and they all charge after it. "Go for the inside of it's mouth, its stomach, or any other soft parts."

The dragon let out a loud roar as the members sent attack after attack on it. "So this is the power a dragon possesses, a sight I am certain I will never forget." Rufus says while staring at the massive red beast.

"This is perfect. I got knocked outta that round way quicker than I thought, I'm ready to throw down!" Orga smirks as he lets lightning flow out of his hands. "I'll blow this critter away! _Lightning God; Dark Partical Cannon!_ " A huge burst of black lighting shot from his hands and right at the dragon, hitting it directly in the head.

"As tribute to Gray Fullbuster, and his decisive victory over me, I'll fight this creature using ice magic." Rufus says and his eyes start to glow while he let his own magic flow from his hands. " _Memory Make; Sword of Frozen Black Lightning!_ " The combined attacked of lightning struck the dragon and it let out a loud roar.

"I never thought I'd see those two work together. I mean, we were in the same guild but things definitely weren't like this." Sting watches the two men as they shocked the dragon.

"Perhaps their experiences in the games taught them something." Rogue supplied.

"Sabertooth is finally fightin' like a real team! Everybody was just going out for themselves before, this is awesome!" Lector smiled as he watched in awe.

"Yeah it's totally awesome!" Frosch agreed, placing his paws on his face in wonder.

"Yup, watching those Fairy Tail guys in action was a real eye-opener. There's a good reason they came in first place this year." Orga grinned while he continued his attack.

"Memorizing is a form of learning, and if you cannot learn from your enemies, you will never win." Rufus' eyes change back to normal, his assault on the dragon never stopping. The dragon let out a loud roar as it started to crumple to the ground.

"I think they're gonna beat it!" Frosch smiled widely.

"Yeah they are!" Lector cheered in agreement.

The dragon roared again and spread its wings, causing the lightning and ice to disappear. "We hit this thing full on!" Orga groaned while covering his face as pieces of ice went flying towards them.

The dragon let out another loud roar, most likely in annoyance. "That's impossible, how is it still standing?" Sting frowns.

"Get back Frosch and Lector, do it now." Rogue demands.

"Okay!" Lector runs off.

"Wait for me!" Frosch cries while running after his friend.

"Just where the hell did M'lady go? We could use her help right now." Sting asks while looking over at Rogue. ' _Even though she did all of those horrible things to Lucy, she would still be useful in a battle like this._ '

"I don't know," Rogue sighs. "I haven't seen her in a while, but I assume she's fighting somewhere else."

"Can we even beat this monster?" Orga asks as the dragon let out another roar.

"I think it should be possible. If memory serves me, Sting and Rogue both killed dragons when they were young." It was silent after Rufus said that.

Sting then looks down. "Well, you're half right." He clicks his tongue as a memory of his father asking him to kill him enters his mind.

"Skiadrum had been suffering from a serious illness, so all I did was just put him out of his misery." Rogue stares at the ground as well.

"I didn't realize that's what happened. It must be a memory filled with great sorrow for you." Rufus looks back at them.

"But if you can kill dragons, now is definitely the time to do it!" Orga yells.

The dragon smashes its tail into a building and stomps on another. It lifts up a smaller one with its mouth and crushes it with its teeth and horns.

"These guys are way more powerful, I dunno if we can kill 'em." Sting clenches his fists.

"But we still have to try! We have to protect our friends!" Rogue growls.

"You're right, its the only hope we have left! We can't just go down without a fight." Sting agrees.

"Let's do it. It's up to us, we're Dragon Slayers, so let's show the world what that means." Rogue glances at Sting.

Just then, the loud voice of Natsu rang out. "Can you hear me?! Let's quit playin' around and use our Dragon Slayer magic!"

"I hear ya!" Sting grins up at the sky. He was relieved to hear that Natsu was okay, he just hoped Lucy was too.

"There are seven dragons," Natsu continued, "and we got seven Dragon Slayers! We can do this! It's what we were born for, our whole lives have led to this day! Let's use our powers and slay some freakin' dragons! 'Cause I'm goin' dragon hunting!" A huge fire bursts from the back of a dragon in the sky and it lets out a loud roar of pain.

"Rogue, I'll handle this one." Sting says and thrusts his hand towards the said man. "Go and check on the other guilds. We need to pick up the slack for any of them without Dragon Slayers."

"I'm on my way." He replies and turns to take his leave.

"This is for Natsu, for helping me find my courage!" Sting places his hands together and lets his magic build up in his hands before extending his arms at his sides and sending it in multiple bursts at the dragon. "Not that I was scared to fight, he gave me the courage to stand up for all my friends." Sting takes a step forward with a small smirk on his face. He then looks up and sees the dragon that Natsu was fighting start to drop things from its stomach. "You guys should go check that out." He told the others.

"Right!" Orga said and turned to leave but glanced at Sting quickly. "You good here by yourself?"

"I'm a Dragon Slayer, if anyone is okay to be alone with a dragon, it's me." He grins and watches as they run off. "Alright you over-grown lizard, let me show you what I can do!" He thrusts his hands forward and shoots bursts of magic over and over at the dragon, but it was almost like it barely effected it. Sting frowned and went to try a stronger attack when he heard a loud squeal.

"Sting! Catch me!"

He turned and his eyes widened when a very naked Lucy came rushing at him from the sky. "What the-" He lets out a loud grunt when she smacks into him, causing them both to slide several feet away from the dragon. He groans and sits up, blushing when he feels her body pressed tightly to his. He stares down at her in surprise. "W-Why the hell are you naked?"

Lucy squeaks and hops off of him, her arms covering her chest as she kneels in front of him. She blushes as well and notices his eyes on her body. "D-Don't look, pervert!"

"Right, right! Sorry." He looks away and closes his eyes. He takes off his vest and gives it to her. "I know it's not much, but it's better than nothing."

Lucy takes it and wraps it around her so it covers her chest. "Y-You can look just don't look down." She mumbles.

He peeks an eye open and turns his head to look at her, but he regretted it right away. Seeing her sitting there with a large flush staining her cheeks in nothing but his vest and her hands in her lap to keep her nether region covered was his undoing. ' _I gotta tell her my feelings, even if I didn't win the games._ ' He reaches forward and grasps her shoulders. "Lucy, I gotta tell you something." When she tilted her head, his words were stuck in his throat. ' _Just say it. Tell her you love her, damnit!_ ' He tightens his hold on her shoulders slightly. "I.. Lucy I.. God, why is this so hard?"

Lucy leans forward and rests her head on his chest. "You can tell me anything, Sting. Whatever it is, I won't be mad."

Sting blushes brightly and shuts his eyes tightly. "Lucy, I lo-" Before he could finish, the forgotten dragon he had been fighting let out a loud roar and swung its tail towards them. They let out pained yells as it knocks them away. They slide against the ground again and he pulls her close to him. Once they come to a stop, he stands up. "I gotta go fight, you stay here." He leans down and kisses her forehead before running over to the dragon. "Power up, _White Drive!_ " White scales littered his body as he let his magic flow through him. "Now feel my _White Dragon; Roar!_ " He yells and a large amount of magic shoots from his mouth and hits the dragons head with an explosion, creating dust.

' _He's amazing!_ ' Lucy thought with a smile on her face. She remembered when he was younger and barely knew how to use his magic. He didn't know how to use his roar back then, but it seems that he mastered it now. She was so proud of how strong he'd become.

When the dust cleared, the dragon seemed unfazed. "You like that? Take this!" She shouts and punches the dragon in the stomach, light consuming his body as he did. Sting leaped back and smirked. "Let's see how scary you are when you can't even move!" He then stares in shock as the magic circle he left disappeared.

"You stupid human, that's just pitiful! I don't feel a thing! Is that really the best you can do?" The dragons raspy voice echoed.

Sting clicked his tongue and glared at the dragon. ' _So it can speak after all. My attacks didn't even faze him! I gotta figure something out, and quick.'_ He glanced back at Lucy to make sure she was okay, and saw her staring at him in awe. He felt his heart swell in happiness, realizing that his magic impressed her. He noticed that she was fully dressed now, probably because of one of her spirits. An idea came to his mind and he tuned to face her fully. "Lucy, come with me! I have an idea!"

Lucy didn't question him and ran over to him, handing him his vest and letting him put it on before grabbing his hand and following him as he ran away from the dragon. She looked behind them and saw the dragon following them. I was rather slow but she supposed it was a good thing. After a few minutes of running, she spotted another dragon in front of them. "Sting, what-"

"Why the hell are you just sittin' there?" He suddenly yelled and she noticed Rogue on the round. Her heart started pounding and her eyes went wide, remembering what his future self did to her future self not even two hours ago.

"Sting, what are you doing here?" Rogue asks as he glances back at them. "Lucy too?"

"Thought I'd drop by and save your butt! Let's do this!"

"Wait so have you already beaten your dragon?"

Just then a loud roar was heard as the dragon finally caught up with them. "Nope! Figured I'd just bring him with me!"

"You what?"

"No worries dude, he's super slow!" He and Lucy finally stopped in front of him, Lucy quickly hiding behind Sting with her hands tightly clenching his vest. He figured it was because she was scared of the dragons, however that wasn't the case. She knew the present Rogue wasn't at fault for her future self's death, but she was still frightened of the man.

"This isn't time for jokes!" Rogue groaned.

Sting jogs in place with a grin on his face. "We're a team, aren't we? I figured we should take 'em on together." Sting stops and looks up at the dragons as they talk to each other. "Lucy, you might wanna step aside." When she whimpered and ran off, he stared at her in concern. Was she really that frightened of the dragons? It didn't matter right now, he'd ask her about it later. He glances at Rogue and grins widely at him. "We're the Twin Dragons right? So let's kick their asses! Come on!"

Rogue stared at him for a moment before he smiled. "Let's go." They stand back to back with smiles on their faces, Sting facing the red dragon and Rogue facing the blue one. ' _That's right, as long as I have Sting watching my back nothing can touch me._ ' Rogue thought as he glanced back at his blonde haired partner. ' _If I'm destined to be tainted by evil, then at least I'll have his light nearby to strike me down!_ '

"Accept your fate and come with me!" The blue dragon roared as he rushed at Rogue while Sting attacked the red one.

"Never!" Rogue yells and jumps out of the way before he got hit.

"You can't escape your destiny, your heart will become as black as night."

"That is never gonna happen! Not as long as I have him." Rogue looks down at Sting as he soars through the air.

"This thing is a pain in my ass!" Sting yells and shoots his magic at the red dragon. The dragon dodges and flies into the air but crashes against the blue dragon when it dives back down.

"Stop getting in my way!" The blue dragon growls. "If you refuse to help me then go somewhere else at once!"

"I will not! I'm trying to kill this human and you're preventing me from doing so!"

Sting and Rogue land next to each other in a fighting stance. "Let's hit 'em Rogue!"

"Right!" They both gather their magic in their hands before shooting it and hitting the arguing dragons in their faces.

"We did it!" They say in unison as they watch smoke gather around the two beasts.

"Ha! Your feeble magic has no effect on us."

"It's insulting, prepare to die for your arrogance."

Sting yells in pain as he gets knocked away from them.

"No, Sting!" Rogue watches as he goes flying back.

Lucy gasps as she watches the fight. She was about to go run over to Sting to see if he was alright when the red dragon went over to him and stabbed its large claw through Sting stomach. Lucy's eyes widened and she froze in place as blood flew from Stings mouth when he let out a yell of pain. She brought her hands up to her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes before falling down her cheeks. ' _No. This can't be real._ ' The dragon removes its claw, leaving a motionless Sting with a hole in his stomach and blood pooling under him. "No," She whispers. " ** _Sting!_** " Her loud cry echoed in the night.


	6. Chapter 6

"We did it!" Sting and Rogue say in unison as they watch smoke gather around the two beasts.

"Ha! Your feeble magic has no effect on us."

"It's insulting, prepare to die for your arrogance."

Sting blinks. This situation was oddly familiar, almost like it happened already. If it did, then that meant..

Sting jumps out of the way of the large tail swung his way. "Here it goes!" He then shoots a huge burst of magic at the dragon, causing it to roar in pain.

"You can't hide forever, Rogue! Show yourself!" The blue dragon growls.

"I control my own destiny, not you." Rogue glares at the dragon from the shadows. He then jumps out of the shadows and attacks the dragon with a shout.

Lucy stares at Sting in shock, wondering what just happened. She could have sworn she saw Sting die. Was it her imagination? She takes a step back and hears a small thud. She looks down and sees the journal she found earlier. She picks it up and turns to Sting when he lands a few feet away from her. "I have to show this to Yukino and the princess. Be safe Sting, I'll be back." She says before running off.

"You too." He nods and turns back to the dragon to continue attacking it. ' _I don't know what the hell that was, but I can't let it happen for real. I need to beat this dragon so I can protect Lucy._ ' He glares at the huge red dragon and points to it. "I will defeat you, you bastard!"

"You can try, Little Human, but you are not strong enough to beat me."

Rogue lands next to Sting and places his back against the blonde's. "Did you see it too?"

"My death?" At Rogue's nod, Sting sighs. "Well obviously I saw it, I was the one being stabbed. It's weird, it felt so real but I'm alive."

"It must have been a ripple in time because of the future me." At Sting's questioning look, Rogue shook his head. "I'll explain once we beat these dragons."

"That better be a promise." Sting chuckles and jumps towards the red dragon, stopping when he heard a loud yell that sounded like Rogue. He turned and saw the confused look on his partners face and looked up when he heard Natsu's yell. A large fire ball was heading toward the ground quickly. "The hell?" Sting then looks back at the dragon and quickly jumps out of the way before it can hit him with its claws.

Sting stumbled slightly when the ground shook as a loud explosion went off where the fireball landed. He leaned his back against Rogue's once again and stared in shock when the dragons started to glow after the explosion had subsided. He furrows his brows once they disappear into thin air. "So, uh, was that us?" Sting let out a large sigh before plopping himself on the ground, Rogue taking a few steps away before sitting as well. "Man that was totally pathetic."

"And we call ourselves Dragon Slayers. What a joke."

"Just goes to show ya how tough those things really are. Acnologia's even more powerful than them." Sting crosses his legs and puts his hands in his lap.

"Honestly I'd rather not think about that right now."

"No doubt. It's weird, we fought all those dragons and now they're gone, but it sure as hell doesn't feel like a victory."

"It is a victory." Rogue turns his head and gives Sting a smile. "We protected our friends, didn't we?'

Sting grins back and nods. "Yeah," He then stretches his aching limbs and folds his hands behind his head. "I hope Lucy's okay."

Rogue nods and stands. "I'll be right back." He starts to walk away.

"Wha-? Where are you going?"

Rogue chuckles and waves his hand. "Let me have some privacy, nature calls."

"Oh," Sting laughed and watched as Rogue turned a corner.

"Sting!"

Said blonde turned and saw a smiling Lucy running towards him. "Lucy!" He stands and chuckles when she leaps at him, knocking him back to the ground with her arms tightly around him.

"We did it! We won!" She sat up in his lap, her hands planted on his chest while he laid on the ground. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Sting blushed lightly at their position but smiled at her. "I'm glad you're okay too." He sits up and places his hands on her waist. "Lucy, I need to tell you something really important." When she smiled and nodded, he took a deep breath. "What I was trying to tell you earlier was that I-" Sting blinks when she let out a small whimper and got off of his lap to curl into his side. "Lucy?" He felt her shaking with her eyes tightly shut. He looked around and the only person he saw was Rogue returning. "What's wrong? It's just Rogue."

She flinched at the name. She knew she shouldn't be fearing this time's Rogue since he hadn't done anything wrong. It was his future self that did it. She didn't know Rogue very well so she had trouble trusting the guy. She felt guilty for fearing him.

Rogue sighed and sat beside Sting, opposite side of Lucy. "It was something my future self did, wasn't it?"

Lucy wrapped her arms tightly around Sting's right one and stiffly nodded her head. "H-He.."

Sting brought his free hand over to brush through her hair. "It's okay Lucy, you don't have to tell us."

Lucy clenched her teeth and peeked her eyes open to stare into Sting's concerned ones. She then glanced over to look at Rogue who was watching her with guilt in his deep red eyes. She gripped Sting's hand tightly while keeping eye contact with Rogue. "He killed the future me right before my eyes, she died in my arms."

Rogue's eyes widened and he glanced away from the brown eyes that had started to well up with tears. "I.. I see.." He stands and clenches his fists. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry." He said before walking away.

Sting wrapped both of his arms around Lucy and rubbed her back as she cried. "I don't know the complete story about this whole Future Rogue guy, but I can tell you _this_ Rogue would never do something like that. Something very horrible must have happened to him for him to be like that. The Rogue I know now is one of the most caring people out there, he's gentle when it comes to almost everything that isn't fighting enemies." He chuckles as a memory pops into his head. "You should see him when it comes to Frosch, he's practically mush." He places a kiss to the top of her head. "What I'm trying to say is that he probably feels horrible for something he didn't even do. That guy who came from the future wasn't Rogue, he was someone else. Almost like something possessed him. Please don't be mad at him."

Lucy bit her lip and stayed silent for a while. He did have a point, Future Rogue seemed completely different from present Rogue. Sure, she didn't know him very well but she could tell they were different. Perhaps she could find a way to talk to him and hopefully get over her fear and become friends with him. Sting spoke so highly of the man after all. If Sting could trust this man, maybe she could too.

"You're right, Sting."

* * *

Lucy had thought about it for the past few days before the ball. She was going to apologize to Rogue for fearing him even though he did nothing wrong. She felt bad, he looked so upset at the news when she told him about what his future self did to her future self. He didn't deserve to bare the guilt of something like that. She would tell him she didn't blame him for what happened, that she wanted them to be friends.

"Is it absolutely necessary that I wear this outfit to the celebration?" Yukino's soft voice snapped Lucy out of her thoughts.

She grinned widely at the other Celestial Mage. "Yeah! 'Cause it looks amazing on you!" She winks.

"It looks great! Very flattering." Mira clasped her hands with a smile.

"Don't worry, I think you'd look cute in about anything!" Wendy chimed.

After they had all finished getting dressed, they made their way out of the dressing room and into the ballroom. Lucy stared in awe at how beautiful everything looked. "Oh wow," Wendy whispered. Lucy nodded in agreement. Sure, she grew up in a huge house but that was nothing compared to the castle.

Lucy had secretly parted from the group and made her way to the snacks. She was starving, she hadn't eaten since the day before. She had been so busy during the day that it had just slipped her mind. While she was enjoying the food with a smile, the princess had decided to strike up a conversation with her. Lucy was surprised, but conversed with her anyways.

After they talked for a while, Lucy made her way back with Yukino and Mira. They all smiled at one another as they made their way through the ball. When Yukino stopped however, Lucy looked up in concern and saw Sting and Rogue talking with Gajeel. ' _That's right, she's not a Saber anymore._ ' Lucy frowned at the thought. Maybe she could get Sting to agree to let Yukino back in the guild. Yukino seemed so upset about it after all.

"Sorry, I don't think I can do this right now.." Yukino whimpered slightly and turned to leave.

Lucy was about to stop her when she heard Sting speak up.

"Wait!" Yukino stopped. "Please, stick around for a little while at least. The master and M'lady are gone for good, they won't be here." He took a step forward. "Look, I'm sorry for the way we treated you, but we're starting everything over from scratch." He looks down with a frown. "The way we were was wrong. But the old Sabertooth guild is history now. From here on out, we'll be the kind of guild that treats our members like family."

"Well, then I wish you the best of luck with all of that." Yukino mumbled.

"I know the wounds are still fresh," Sting continued, "but I'd love it if you were a part of it again."

"Are you kidding me? Don't be such an idiot!"Everyone looked up to see a red-faced Kagura with her hands on her hips. "Did everybody just forget that her life is in my hands? So since I'm the one making the rules here, I say she's gotta join Mermaid Heel!"

"What?" The members of Sabertooth all shout together.

Sting marched over to the brunette with a snarl. "You're completely wasted!"

"It does't matter, she belongs with us and you can't stop it!" They glare at each other while Sting growls slightly.

"Stop right there!" Erza's commanding voice rang out through the quiet area. "We won't stand by while you decide her fate." Sting and Kagura turn to face her in surprise.

"We're manly!" Elfman grinned.

"That's right! And if she chooses to be in any guild it had better be ours!" Sting's eye twitched as Lucy puffed out her chest and clenched her fists in front of her.

' _Why Lucy? You're supposed to be on my side._ ' Sting whined internally. What was she thinking? The other guilds started to get into the argument and Sting let out a loud groan as a huge brawl started. Why could things never go his way? Whenever he tried confessing to Lucy, someone would interrupt. Now that he wants a guild mate back everyone wants to take her. What a mess.

"Everyone stop this instant!" A deep voice yelled before slamming his sword loudly against the ground, gaining everyone's attention. "In honor of your performances during the games and for your bravery facing the greatest danger this kingdom has ever known, his majesty would like to personally deliver this message to you."

Sting walked over and stood next to Lucy as they all waited for the king to enter. Sting smiled down at Lucy before looking up to see the king. His eye twitched once again when he saw Natsu with the king's crown on his head. ' _Oh god,_ '

"Loyal subjects, shut up and listen!" Natsu cackled. "All hail King Natsu, the ruler of Fiore!" He continued laughing as the actual king begged for his crown back. "For the rest of today, I am your king! Now do what I say!"

"We should have seen this one coming." Lucy sighed with a smile.

"Yeah," Sting chuckled.

After everything had settled down and Natsu eventually gave back the crown, Sting and Lucy were chatting while sitting at a table. "I think this has been the craziest two weeks of my life." Lucy giggled while sipping her glass of wine.

"No kidding," Sting agreed.

"First, I meet back up with the boy from so long ago, then the games, me getting kidnapped by knights, the eclipse gate, Future Rogue, Future me, dragons, and now this beautiful ball." Lucy sighed while leaning back in her chair. "Speaking of Rogue, do you know where he is?" She looked around, not spotting the mop of black hair anywhere.

Sting shrugged. "No idea, probably bathroom or something. I'm guessing you figured out what you're gonna say to him?"

Lucy smiled and nodded. "I figured I'd apologize for being so frightened over him even though he did nothing wrong."

"You're too nice." Sting smiled and reached a hand forward to place it over her free one that was on the table. "Most people would hold a grudge against him for a long time even though it wasn't actually him who did it."

Lucy blushed slightly while staring at their hands. Perhaps since the games were over she would tell him that she liked him. Their guild weren't enemies anymore so their relationship wouldn't be weird. As she opened her mouth to say just that, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and felt her heart rate quicken. ' _No, you can do this. He's gentle, like Sting said._ ' Lucy gave him a bright smile. "Hi Rogue, I was actually looking for you."

"Well then, may I have this dance while we talk?" Rogue gave her a soft smile and took his hand off of her shoulder to hold it in front of her.

Lucy placed her hand in his with a nod, ignoring Sting's growl. She turned to face the blonde man and raised an eyebrow. "I'll be back." She then walked off with Rogue.

A new song started playing and Rogue placed his right hand on her waist while she placed her left hand on his shoulder, their free hands grasping each other. They started to sway slowly to the music and Rogue took a deep breath. "I wanted to apologize." When she gave him a confused look, he glanced away quickly before meeting her gaze again. "For what the future me did."

Lucy squeaked when she almost stepped on his foot in her shock. "N-No need to apologize!" She said quickly while shaking her head. "I actually wanted to apologize to you for being so afraid of you. I had no right. That man wasn't you. I may not know you well but I know enough to see that you're completely different from that man. Sting told me so much about what an amazing person you are, so there's no way you'd turn out that way."

"What did he tell you?"

"That you turn to mush when it comes to Frosch." She laughed when he blushed. "But anyways, I really am sorry for how I acted."

"It's fine, anyone would have reacted that way. Even me." He smiled as his blush started to fade from his face.

"Rogue?" When he hummed his response, Lucy bit her lip and smiled when he twirled her before bringing her to his chest. "I was wondering if we could be friends."

Rogue chuckled and nodded. "But of course, I wouldn't want it any other way."

Lucy smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Thank you,"

Rogue was stiff at first but wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "And thank you, Lucy."

"Alright, Alright! That's enough you two!"

Lucy laughed when Sting pushed them apart before grabbing Lucy's arm and glaring at Rogue. "Someone's a little jealous." She teased.

Sting blushed and turned his glare to her. "Am not!"

"You two have fun, I'll be at the bar." Rogue waved with a chuckle and walked off.

Lucy giggled and wrapped her arms around Stings neck. "May I have this dance?"

Sting stared at her for a second, his blush reddening even further. "Y-Yeah," He whispered and wrapped his arms around her waist. They started to sway to the music and Sting felt his heart speed up when she leaned her head against his chest with a contented sigh. ' _Now's my chance. No interruptions._ ' Sting took a deep breath and pulled her arms away from his neck and held them in his. He twirled her in a circle twice before spinning her out and back into his chest and dipping her down. He stared into her surprised eyes and gulped. ' _You can do this._ ' He took a deep breath. "I love you."

Her eyes widened as she stared right back into his deep blue eyes. He loved her? She didn't notice when the music slowly stopped and all eyes were on them. She slowly turned in his grasp and placed her hands on his chest. Did she love him back? She thought back to all the times they spent together. She loved him as a friend when he was younger, and now that he was older he was so different. He was mature and gorgeous, he was a flirt but it suited him. She's only known the older Sting for two weeks. But for some reason, she felt butterflies every time she saw him. She knew her answer. "I don't love you."

Sting felt his heart drop. She didn't love him, of course she didn't. He's liked her since he was young, but it would have been weird for her to like him back at that age. She hasn't known him long while he's older.

"But," Sting perked up at this, but what? "I think I'm starting to fall in love with you. I like you, Sting."

His heart was soaring. She liked him? That was way better than no feelings at all. _And_ she said she was falling for him. He hoped it wouldn't take long for her to reach that point. He smiled brightly and leaned down to capture her lips with his own. God, she tasted amazing, Sting thought. He nipped her bottom lip and pulled her closer when she parted her lips for him. He slid his tongue past her lips to meet her own tongue. He was in heaven. Sure, he kissed her before, but it was nothing like this. They had just confessed to each other so it made the kiss much more passionate.

When cheers were heard all around them, Lucy pulled away with a gasp. Sting stood them both up and she buried her face in his chest, her face flaming. Sting felt his face heat up slightly when he noticed that all eyes were on them. He gulped when Natsu started to march over to them. "N-Natsu, I-"

Natsu laughed and slapped him on the back. "Don't hurt her, got it? I might have to teach you a lesson if you do." He grinned.

Sting smiled and gave him a nod. "Of course. I wouldn't dream of it."

"Okay! Let's party!" The Fire Slayer shouted while everyone cheered loudly.

Lucy pulled back to to stare up at Sting. "I guess this means we're together?"

"Hell yeah," Sting chuckled and grabbed her hand to lead her back to their table. "I've liked you for so long, Lucy. When I saw you again after seven years, I knew that it was more than just a small crush. I felt like I needed you by my side, like my heart would explode if I didn't get you in my arms. I love you so much." He smiled softly at her as they took a seat.

Lucy felt her heart flutter as he talked. "I'm sorry I don't love you, Sting. I do like you a lot though."

"I understand. It would be weird if you had a crush on a kid after all." He laughed when she punched his arms. "By the way, you look beautiful."

Lucy blushed. "Thank you. You clean up nicely too." She looked down when he grabbed her hand. "Not wearing gloves? What a surprise."

He rolled his eyes and squeezed her hand. "The only pair I own are the blue ones, and it would look weird with a white suit. They would feel weird too since they go up my arms and I have sleeves."

"Wow, so you _do_ know something about fashion."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He pulled his hand back and crosses his arms with a raised eyebrow.

Lucy bites her lip to hold in her laughter and shrugs. "Oh nothing."

"Tell me."

"Belly shirt." She snorts.

Sting blushes and gives her a glare. "So what? I look good in it."

"Why, because it shows off your body?" She lets out a laugh.

Sting's blush deepens in his embarrassment. "Sh-Shut up."

Lucy laughs again and stands up, taking a step over to him and sitting in his lap. She wraps her arms around her new boyfriend and kisses his cheek. "You're so cute when you're all embarrassed."

He pouts but wraps his arms around her waist anyways. "You're so mean."

"Yeah but you love me."

He sighs, the corner of his mouth twitching up. "Yeah, I do."

Lucy sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. She felt content in his arms. She couldn't believe how things had turned out. She wasn't expecting to reunite with Sting, let alone _date_ him. But she wasn't going to complain. No, she was going to shout it to the world that she was dating Sting Eucliffe. Maybe one day she'd find that love for him that he found for her. She would just have to wait and see. She couldn't help but wonder what adventures would happen after this. She was excited.

* * *

 **So I found out that Rogue is taller than Sting. What the fuck.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, the one's after this will just go along with the show/manga just with Sting and Lucy together more. I plan on keeping it going until after the Alvarez Empire arc.**

 **(Psst, you should follow, favorite, and review.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome back my wonderful readers! This next chapter will be based on my absolute favorite episode; Welcome Back, Frosch. Hope you like it!**

 **Also, I've wrote and posted a new story called "Her Blonde Best Friend". It's a side story to this one that I thought of. If you're interested, I'd really like for you guys to check it out! It's about Lucy not being on the island when it disappears and Sting being there to help her through the journey of the seven years.**

 **Anyways, on to the story!**

Lucy hopped off of the train happily, glancing around the beautiful area. It had been a week since the games, which meant it's been a week since she has seen Sting. When he called her on her lacrima the night before and asked her if she wanted to visit Sabertooth, she agreed right away, wanting to see her blonde boyfriend as soon as possible. They had both been so busy lately that they didn't even have time to call each other until then. With Sting being the new guild master and Lucy needing jobs to pay her rent, they just didn't have the time. To make things harder, they lived far away from each other. That didn't stop them from having a relationship though.

She made her way through the streets of Crocus wearing a pink tank top and blue jean shorts with a pair of white and red sandals. There were flowers everywhere she looked and all of them were beautiful. She loved how Crocus looked, the towns people built things quickly after the dragons attacked. Not everything was finished of course, but a lot was. Shops were open and crazy busy. She wanted to get something for Sting but she didn't know what. As she walked by a flower shop, something caught her eye and she stopped. She smiled fondly at the daisies in the window as a memory came to mind.

* * *

 _Lucy opened the door to her apartment and threw the bouquet of daisies on her coffee table. She ignored when Sting jumped slightly and gave her a questioning look from the couch, a book in his lap. She stormed into her room with a frustrated groan and slammed the door behind her. She stripped of the black dress she was wearing and threw it across the room. "Fuck you, Tyler!" She shouted and ripped open her drawer, throwing on the first tank top and pajama pants she grabbed._

 _She left her room and stopped when she saw Sting standing there with chocolate covered strawberries and a glass of wine. "Another failure?"_

 _Lucy smiled at him and took the items from his hands. "You have no idea." She sighed. She had been trying to find a man for months now. Seven guys and all of them sucked. This time was Tyler, a total ass. Each time she came home, Sting would be there to comfort her with snacks and hugs. She made her way over to the couch and plopped down, Sting sitting next her her and instantly curling up to her. She was about to sip her wine when she noticed the flowers. "Um, Sting?"_

 _"Hm?" Sting hummed and inhaled her scent. He missed her, even if she was only gone for a few hours._

 _"What happened to my flowers?" They looked like a swarm of bugs had a feast, but only on the peddles._

 _Sting shrugged and glared at the stems on the table. "He was a dick and I was hungry."_

 _"Hungry? You ate my flowers?"_

 _"I'm a White Dragon Slayer, I either eat light or white things."_

 _"Thant's weird." She laughed and sipped her wine. After a moment, she glared down at him. "Wait, did you say dick?" When he nodded sheepishly, she rolled her eyes. "I told you not to swear."_

 _"It's your fault, you're always swearing around me. A bad influence I'd say."_

 _"Shut up, Dick."_

* * *

Sting was so ridiculous as a kid. She looked at the price of the flowers and raised an eyebrow. Fifty jewel for one flower? Seemed kind of expensive. She supposed she'd buy a couple for Sting though. After she went inside and bought three, she continued her way to Sabertooth. She soon stopped walking as a thought came to mind.

Lucy had no idea where Sabertooth was.

She let out a groan and saw a couple sitting on a bench. She walked over to them with a smile. "Excuse me, but do you know where Sabertooth is?"

They looked up at her and the man's eyes lit up. "You're Lucy from Fairy Tail! I saw you battle in the games!"

The woman nodded and smiled. "Yeah I saw you as well! You were great, the battle between you and Flare was amazing. You're so strong Miss Lucy!"

Lucy blushed and waved her free hand in front of her. "Thank you so much, but I really need to get to Sabertooth."

The woman pointed to her left and gave Lucy directions. Lucy thanked the woman before taking her leave, her blush deepening in color when she heard the woman speak before she was out of earshot. "I bet she really is with Sting from Sabertooth. Remember the way they looked at each other after the battle between the fours Dragon Slayers? They're so cute!"

Lucy sped up her walking to get away from the chuckling couple. Sure they were dating now, but they weren't back then. It seems that Jason hasn't caught on to their relationship yet either which was good. It's not like their relationship was a secret, but she knew that as soon as Jason found out they were together he'd make a huge deal about it in Sorcerer's Weekly.

After jogging for what felt like forever, she stopped in front of a huge building. It was most definitely Sabertooth. From the large tigers perched atop the building to the flags of their emblem scattered around the area. Seemed a bit overboard in Lucy's opinion. She took a deep breath before walking up the the doors and pushing them open.

It was deathly quiet and everyone was gathered in one area. She silently closed the doors and swiftly made her way through the crowd. She stopped when she reached Rogue and rose an eyebrow when she saw Sting. He was sitting on a throne -which Lucy rolled her eyes at- two more of the large tigers facing towards him, long dark red curtain hung from the ceiling and were bunched up on either side of him, finally there were closed curtains of the same color behind him. She wondered what was behind them.

She looked up at Rogue and nudged him slightly with her shoulder. "What's going on?" She let out a small squeak when he glared at her to shut her up. Were they in trouble? Did they do something to upset Sting? Her eyes snapped to the blonde guild master when he started speaking.

Sting glanced at Lucy quickly before his eyes scanned his guild members. He was glad Lucy could make it. "Our guild aims to stun the heavens, rouse the land beneath us, silence the raging seas. _That_ is the Sabertooth way." His voice rang out through the quiet guild. "Hear me? Take it off."

Lucy's eyes widened when she heard Yukino comply. What the hell was he doing? "Sti-" She tried to say but was cut off when Rogue grabbed her wrist. Her eye twitched when she saw everyone start to take off their clothes, even Rogue. ' _Are you fucking kidding me?_ ' Lucy thought when she saw everyone wearing swimming clothes under what they were wearing. She groaned when everyone happily made their way through a door and Lucy followed them.

"Everybody in the water 'cause we got ourselves a pool!" Sting shouted excitedly while some of the members jumped into the water with happy shouts.

"This was a wonderful idea, Sting!" Yukino smiled.

' _Wonderful my ass. It's always been the same with him, he gets some sort of power and he goes over the top._ ' Lucy internally sighs.

"I don't think I've ever seen him this happy." Rogue chuckled while tying his hair in a ponytail.

Lucy walked up to Rogue and crossed her arms. She wouldn't admit it out loud -and definitely not in front of Sting- but Rogue had an amazing body and she wished he didn't hide it under so much clothing. "It's so like him to do something like this."

Rogue watched as Sting dove into the water and started swimming around. "Are you going to be joining us?"

Lucy sighs and nods. "Yeah, I guess I could." Rogue points her to the bathrooms and she thanks him. After she made it there and called out Virgo, she changed into her normal white bikini whit a pink flower print. Leaving the flowers in the bathroom on the pile of her clothes, she went back to the pool and stood by the edge as she watched Sting laugh and swim around. ' _Still a child._ '

Sting stopped and stared up at his blonde girlfriend with a large grin. "Jump in, the water feels amazing!"

She laughed lightly at the guild master and hopped in the water. As soon as she resurfaced Sting started splashing her.

"Seriously, no one's gonna believe that we _actually_ have a pool in our guild hall!" He laughed.

"Stop it Sting!" Lucy laughed with him and splashed him back. God, she could't tell if he was more of a child now or seven years ago. When he stopped, she jumped on him and dunked his head under the water. She squealed when she felt him pinch her thigh and jumped back. While she was glaring at the smirking man, she couldn't help but overhear Rufus and Orga talking.

"We _are_ the only guild that has a pool, right?" Orga crossed his arms in thought.

Rufus leaned back in his floating tube a little more and let out a contented sigh. "I don't remember anyone else talking about having one."

Lucy walked over to them with a smile, Sting following closely behind. When he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his chin against her head, she stopped."Actually, Fairy Tail has one in the yard."

Sting groaned. "Seriously? And I thought I was the only guild master smart enough the think of installing a pool."

"Well, I wouldn't call it a _smart_ idea." She giggled and pinched Sting's arm.

"I bet Fairy Tail doesn't have a throne." Sting grinned.

"No, we don't. But we also don't have a nineteen-year-old guild master that has a huge ego." She grinned back.

He glared at her and pushed her under the water, laughing when she sprang back up and slapped his arm. "You love my huge ego." He then grinned and wrapped an arm around her. "But that's not the only thing about me that's huge." He winks.

Lucy blushed and pushed him away. "If you don't stop being a perv, I won't give you the gift I got you."

Sting heard Orga mutter to Rufus about how the hell their master ended up with a girl like Lucy but chose to ignore it. "You got me a gift? Why?"

"I saw them on the way here and thought you'd like them." She shrugs. "Am I not aloud to buy things for my boyfriend?"

A small tint of pink appears on Sting's cheeks. "N-No, you can.. I just didn't expect it."

"Wow, the mighty Sabertooth guild master is blushing!" Orga laughs loudly.

"I will surely remember this." Rufus chuckled.

"Shut up!" Sting's blush deepens in color.

Lucy giggles and wraps her arms around the blonde guild master from behind. "Aw! You're so cute Stingy-Bee!"

Sting growls and wraps his hands around Lucy's thighs before leaving the two laughing men with her. He felt her wrap her legs around his waist, which was definitely not helping his blush go away. Though, he couldn't help but smile when he heard her bright laughter as he jogged around in the water - or, tried to.

"On-wards my trusty stead! To Shadow Boy!" She placed her hands on his shoulders and gave them a pat.

"Shadow Boy?" Sting chuckles and glances around for the man. When he saw him relaxing at the more shallow area, he made his way over with a grin. He stopped behind him and placed Lucy down. When she took a step away, he started splashing at the man. "Loosen up a little Rogue!"

"Stop, you're behaving like a child!" Rogue turns his head to glare at Sting.

Lucy crosses her arms with a small quirk to her lips. ' _How the hell are they friends? They're total opposites!_ '

"Hey, Sting! Listen Sting!" The three turned to stare at Lector as he rushed over to the edge of the pool. "O-Oh I mean, master."

Sting places a hand on his hip as Lucy walks over to stand next to him. "You know I don't care about that _master_ crap, is there something wrong?"

' _Bullshit, you love being the master._ ' Lucy shakes her head at that thought.

"Yeah, something's really wrong! Well, we were out shopping in the market and somehow Frosch just completely disappeared on me!" Lector explains.

"Say what?" Sting gasps.

"Are you joking or are you really so careless that you'd just _let_ something like this happen?" Rogue growls as he moves closer to the panicked cat.

"I'm sorry! I just turned my back for a second and that's all it took!" Lector cries.

' _Iv'e never seen Rogue act like this. I guess Sting really meant it when he said Rogue is a completely different person when it comes to Frosch._ ' Lucy internally giggles at the thought.

Sting walks over to his partner and places a hand on his shoulder. "Hey man, this was obviously an accident so back off, would ya?"

Rogue slaps his hand away and glares at Sting. "Don't you understand?" He takes a step closer. "Frosch doesn't know how to get back here!"

Sting buts his head against Rogue's. "Yeah I know, but that's not Lector's fault!"

"He knew that too!"

"He didn't do it on purpose!"

Lucy sighed as she watched the two Slayers start to fight, growling and pinching each other. ' _Rogue can't call Sting a child if he acts like this over something that can easily be handled. Though, seeing two shirtless men argue is pretty sexy. Especially if one of those men happen to be my_ very mature _boyfriend_.' She takes a step forward and crosses her arms. "Alright you two, stop fighting. We need to go and look for Frosch."

Both of the men stopped and turned to stare at her before side-glancing each other. She was right.

* * *

Lucy sighs as she watched Rogue look around the market in a panic. ' _This is a totally different side of him, it's pretty funny._ '

"So you were here when you lost track of Frosch, huh?" Sting asks as he glances around the area.

"Yeah, there were so many people around and I guess Frosch just got lost in the crowd." Lector replies worriedly.

"Hey Frosch, where are you?"

"Come on back!" Sting calls.

Lucy bit her lip to hold in a laugh at the whine in Rogue's voice. She couldn't laugh though, it would be rude and she knew Rogue would probably freak out if she did. "Frosch?" She yells.

"When it happened I asked a bunch of folks, but it so packed with people today that it seemed no body really saw anything." Lector looks down sadly.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm sure we'll find Frosch in no time." Sting reassures him.

Lucy walks over and laces her fingers with Sting's. "You're sweet when you wanna be huh?" She giggles when he playfully glares at her. She then saw something in the corner of her eye and turned to look. "Oh hey, It's Gajeel. I wonder what he's doing here." She says and the others turn to look where she was.

All four of them make their way over to the Iron Slayer and his exceed. "Yo, Gajeel!" Sting yells, the said man turning to look at them.

Lucy's eyes widen and a small laugh passes her lips when Rogue grabs the collar of Gajeel's shirt.

"Hey, if you've seen Frosch around here you better start talking!" Rogue growls.

"And you'd better get your hands off me," Sting pulls Rogue away and holds him back while he struggles in his hold, "you got some kind of death wish?" Gajeel raises and eyebrow with a small scowl curling his lip.

"No, he's just a little upset right now." Sting sighs.

"We've been looking but we haven't seen Frosch anywhere, have you?" Lector asks.

"Who's Frosch, that weird little frog?" Gajeel crosses his arms.

"A cat!" Rogue yells and takes a step forward, Sting struggling to hold him back.

"Well technically speaking, we're called exceed." Lily interjects. "So tell me, this is the last place you saw your friend?" At Lector's confirmation, he continued, "I saw what I thought was a short person in a frog costume a few minutes ago at the park down the road." He points in the direction.

"Oh really?" Lector smiles.

"We owe you one!" Sting shouts as he and Rogue run off with Lector.

"Thanks Gaj, you've been a lot of help." Lucy smiles. "I'll make sure to give you plenty of iron when I get back to Fairy Tail, okay?" She then runs off to catch up to the Sabers. When she finally caught up with them, they were walking slower and still calling out for the small cat.

"Frosch!" Rogue cries.

"Where did you go?" Sting yells.

"What a mess." Lucy sighs. She glances around and her eyes land on a certain blue haired Slayer. "Guys, let's ask her if she's seen him." Lucy waves for them and they follow her. "Wendy, Carla!" Lucy smiles as they walk up to the pair.

"Thanks for all of your help during the Grand Magic Games." Wendy bows towards Sting.

"They were out biggest rival." Carla points out.

"Anyway, we need to ask you a question." Sting cuts them off.

Rogue then towers over the smaller Slayer. "Listen, tell us where Frosch is so things don't have to get ugly!" He growls at the cowering girl.

Sting pulls a fist back and slams it into Rogue, sending him flying into a pole. "She's just a little girl, so cool it on the threats!" He groans.

"So sorry," Rogue painfully moans from where he landed.

Wendy then turns to Lucy. "You're looking.. For Frosch?"

"Yeah, he's Rogue's exceed. He's the one that wears the pink frog suit." Lucy explains.

"Well we did see that one down the street not too long ago." Carla points down the road.

"That's awesome. C'mon pal!" Sting drags Rogue in the direction that she pointed, Lucy following. Sting had to hold in a laugh as he heard Lector compliment the white exceed. Looks like his friend found himself a crush.

After making it further into the market, Rogue let out another cry. "Frosch!"

"Answer us!" Sting calls. He then lets out a sigh. "Of course, no sign here either."

"Must of moved on to the next place already." Lector frowned.

"To picture my best friend walking around lost and alone just breaks my heart. I don't know how much longer I can go on like this." Rogue whimpers, staring into his hands as tears came to his eyes.

"Would you pull yourself together man?" Sting groans. His friend could be so dramatic.

"My brother's in arms, let me help you!"

Lucy jumped in surprise and turned at the sound of Ichya's voice. A shiver went up her spine. "O-Oh, it's Ichya." She turned her head when she heard growling and quick footsteps draw closer. Oh god, here they go again.

Rogue grabbed the short mans shoulders and roughly pulled him closer. "Where's Frosch, answer me!" He then paled when the man blew a kiss to him and couldn't help himself when he pulled his fist back and slammed it into Ichya.

"That was totally uncalled for!" Sting yelled.

Rogue stares at his fist in shock before turning his gaze to his guild master. "W-Whoops, my bad!"

"It's fine, that was just the jolt of energy I needed."

They all turned and saw that he was somehow completely unscathed and now in a too small _mankini._ Sting's eyes twitched. "What the hell's happening?"

"Is he wearing a thong?" Rogue stares in disgust.

' _That's not a thong. I would know, since I'm wearing one._ ' Lucy laughed at the thought and waved off Sting when he gave her a weird look. "Um, Ichya. Rogue's friend Frosch has gone missing. have you seen him?"

"I know just where to look." He smiles.

"So, tell me!" Rogue takes a step forward in anticipation.

"Right here," Lucy's eyes widened when Ichya jumped up and spread his legs widely, pressing his groin to the poor Shadow Slayers face, "Oh yeah!"

Lucy stared at Rogue as shivers ran up and down his body after he let a massive breath attack hit the short man. She felt so bad for him.

"Uh, we're kinda in a hurry, so.. see ya later." Sting quickly says before leading them away from the twitching body.

When they made it a good distance away, Rogue seemed to have gotten over the incident. "Hey Frosch, where are you?"

"I'm sorry I lost ya!" Lector cries.

"There's too many people here for me to pick up the scent." Sting sighs.

Lucy glances around and when she turns, her eyes light up. "Guy look, over there!" She points the the smiling green cat.

"Alright, good eye!" Sting grins and starts running towards Frosch.

"Finally." Lucy sighs happily and runs after Sting.

"Hold on!" Rogue thrusts his hand to the side. He blinks when he feels something soft in his palm and gives it a firm squeeze. "Hold on..?" He turns his head and a deep flush stains his cheeks when he realizes that the 'something soft' was actually Lucy's chest. Oh, he was a dead man. He groans loudly in pain when a burst of magic hits his body and he goes crashing the the ground.

"Dude that is totally not cool!" Sting growls and pulls a blushing Lucy close to him. ' _Great, even my own best friend is groping my girlfriend before me!_ ' He glared at the trembling body on the ground.

"S-Sorry, Lucy. I didn't mean to."

"I-It's okay.." She whispers and covers her chest with her arms.

"But seriously, stop and look a second. Check it out." Rogue whispers and raises a shaky hand to point at Frosch.

"Reading a map, eh?" Lector hums.

"That's right," Rogue said while sitting up. "This whole time Frosch has been trying to get back to the guild hall, and to make it there without anyone's help." He shakily stood with a determined look on his face. "I have to harden my heart and keep my protective instincts inside, this could be a real milestone."

"I really wouldn't bet on that." Sting shook his head and let go of Lucy.

"Not gonna happen." Lector agreed.

"You just gotta have faith!" Rogue growled.

Lucy placed a hand on Sting's arm. "Maybe we should watch and see how things go. Frosch can't be that bad with directions." They all watched as Frosch turned and started making his way down the road. "See? He's already going the right direction." She nodded with a smile. It soon fell as the little exceed spotted a frog and started chasing after it.

"No.. No stay focused!" Rogue whined.

"That was quick." Sting chuckled.

"Will you leave the frog alone!" Rogue glared at his partner.

"This is going to take forever." Lucy mumbled and watched a cart being pulled by out of control horses ran towards the oblivious cat. "Why can't we catch a break?" She whined.

"There's nobody driving it!" Lector panics.

"This is bad!" Sting takes a step back in surprise.

"Frosch has to learn to be more independent but this situation has become very dangerous. I have to somehow figure out a way to help without being noticeable." Rogue mumbles before he merged with the shadows.

Lucy watched and let out a sigh when Rogue instantly turned green when he appeared on the carriage. "Oh right,"

"Yeah, it may be an emergency but there's no point in trying to tell that to a dragon Slayer's belly." Sting scratched the back of his head. He felt bad for Rogue, but there was no way he was getting on that thing to help him.

The carriage crashed and missed Frosch. Lucy let out another sigh. "I just want this day to be over."

* * *

After hours of following Frosch around, he eventually made it to a guild. It wasn't Sabertooth, but it was a guild. Lucy's guild in fact. After Rogue collected Frosch while sulking, Lucy offered to let them stay at her place since it was already so late. They agreed and Rogue slept on the couch with Frosch while Sting and Lucy stayed in her bed with Lector.

Lucy was a blushing mess when he crawled into her bed in nothing but his boxers. She wore a white tank top with pink shorts and sat on the edge of the bed next the man that was under her covers while she pet a sleeping Lector. "Today sure was crazy." She whispered.

Sting turned so he was lying on his side facing her, propping himself up on his elbow and leaning his head on his hand. "Yeah, it's both frustrating and funny seeing Rogue like that." He chuckled and reached his free hand over to grasp hers. "Lucy?"

"Hm?" She smiled when she heard Lector purr quietly in his sleep.

"I love you."

She blushed and looked into his eyes. His blue depths were swirling with emotions and she couldn't help but lean down to capture his lips with hers. She pulled back and giggled when he brushed his nose against hers. "I'll say it back one of these days."

"And I'll be waiting." He kissed her one last time before laying his head on the pillow.

"Shit!" Lucy placed a hand over her mouth. She glanced at Sting when he let out a small laugh. She removed her hand and let out a sigh. "I didn't mean to say that so loud." She laughed softly.

"Did you remember something?"

"Yeah," Lucy frowned. "I forgot your present at Sabertooth."

Sting chuckled and squeezed her hand. "That's fine. Just being with you is enough for me."

Lucy blushed and was about to say something when a bright light flashed in her room. She looked over and smiled at her spirit. "You're amazing Virgo."

Virgo bowed and handed the flowers to Lucy. "Punishment?"

"N-No, thanks Virgo." Lucy shook her head and her spirit disappeared.

"Punishment? I knew you used that whip for more than fighting." Sting grinned when she smacked his arm.

"Shut up and take these." She groaned, thrusting the flowers to him.

"Aw, such a sweetheart." He teased and took the flowers. "I thought the man was supposed to get the flowers for the woman?"

"Yeah but I remembered how I brought home some daisies after a date and you ate them. So I thought since you like to eat white things, I'd buy you the same flowers you ate all those years ago."

Sting smiled softly at her and sat up, pulling her into a hug. "This is why I love you."


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh wow, an update! Haven't had one of these in two months. I need to get back on this. Things are just super crazy right now but I'll hopefully be able to update my stories more often soon. I want to be able to update a story every weekend but I know that won't happen. Maybe someday.**

 **So I decided that I was going to skip the Celestial Realm Arc (the one where the Zodiac turn evil). I'm not really a fan of it and I'm having trouble figuring out how to put Sting in it. So I'll just do Lucy and Yukino doing favors for their spirits (this chapter), the Kemo-Kemo thing, Tartaros, the year-long gap when the guild disbands, and then the Alvarez Empire. I already have an ending planned out and I'm super excited for it! Anyways, enjoy!**

 **(Remember that this story is rated M for a reason!)**

"It's so nice up here." Lucy sighed happily, stretching atop the hill they just climbed.

"It is, but why is it called Starry Hill?" Yukino asked while glancing around the area in slight awe.

"You'll see. Just wait until after the sun goes down." The blonde woman smiled. She turned her bright eyes when she felt a hand slip into hers. Her brown met blue and her smile grew. "Thanks for offering to help us." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

Sting shrugged and gave her a grin. "Anything for my girl."

Her eyes moved down to the red cat, who was looking at the broken building. She leaned down and scooped him up into her arm. "And thank you too Mister Lector, such a gentlemen to offer a lady such as myself some help."

Lector grinned widely at her. "Of course! I'll always be willing to help Sting's girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes but kissed his head anyways before putting him down. "There was a better way you could have said that." She sighed and turned to face Yukino. "So, you ready to rock?"

"Yes, let's get started." Yukino smiled.

"First things first." Lucy says as she pulls a golden key from her hip. " _Open, gate of the ram; Ares!_ "

In a puff of pink smoke, the spirit appeared. "Oh, I'm sorry! Is there something that you need help with? Sorry, I don't feel a hundred percent prepared right now."

"Don't worry about it, today's about giving back." Lucy gives a bright smile. "Me helping you, how's that sound?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand. You're helping me?" She asks in surprise.

"It's a reward. All of the Celestial Spirits worked so hard to close the Eclipse Gate." Yukino explains.

"Yeah, and these two keep going on and on about how amazing it was." Sting chuckled.

"You're welcome, but I was just doing my job."

"We appreciate it, and to show you how much, we wanna do something nice for you guys for a change. And that's the reason we brought you out here today!" Lucy waves her hands in excitement. She was happy that she would finally be able to do something for her spirits.

"Okay, that's very considerate of you but-"

"So tell me, what's one thing you've always wanted to do, but haven't?" Lucy continues.

"We want to make your dreams a reality." Yukino adds.

Ares hesitates for a moment before blurting out, "I wanna get a tan! I really do!" It was silent after those words left her mouth and she looks away in shame. "I apologize for being so ridiculous."

"You want a tan?" Lucy blinks.

"I've always been so fluffy and woolly and pale, but sometimes, I wish I were golden brown."

"If only Natsu were here, he could probably use his fire to tan her." Sting crosses his arms in thought.

"She wants a tan, not to be cooked alive!" Lucy glares at her boyfriend.

"Well, guess I could give it a try. I'll just have to heat up my light!"

"Are you even listening to me?!"

Sting grins and creates a large orb with his magic before surrounding the spirit in it. He took a deep breath and focused on heating the orb. He ignored Lucy's cry of panic and made it disappear, his grin growing when she was a little tan, but not very much. "Not as good as what Natsu could have done, but it's better than nothing."

"Oh wow, this is great! Thanks so much!" Ares smiles brightly.

"Whoa, I can't believe that worked. And she likes it?" Lucy stares in disbelief.

"Guess I'm just that awesome." Sting laughs.

"There's a reason he's the strongest Dragon Slayer!" Lector nods.

"It's what I've always wanted, I'm so happy!"

"Good, then I'm happy too. Now go show it off." Lucy gives a nervous smile.

"Thanks again, Lucy. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me." She says before disappearing in the same pink puff she appeared in.

Sting was liking this quite a bit. He would finally get the chance to meet all of Lucy's spirits. He only met Taurus when she saved him, and saw a few spirits at the Grand Magic Games. There were times at the apartment when she would summon Virgo for help, Cancer for her hair, or even Leo would pop out of nowhere. Since he had seen most of her spirits at the Games, there were only two left that he hadn't seen before. He just hoped that they weren't crazy.

Lucy pulls out another key and raises it above her head. "Cool, on to the next. _Open, gate-_ " She sighs and lowers the key. "Hang on, I got a strong feeling that things are about to get creepy."

"Who are you talking about?" Sting raises an eyebrow.

" _Now open, gate of the Golden Bull; Taurus!_ "

"Mooo!" In a flash of gold, the massive cow appears. "Are you feeling lonely today, Miss Lucy? Don't see how that could ever be truuue. Not with an amazing body like that."

Sting growls and walks up to the spirit. He can easily remember this spirit. "You better watch what you say, cow."

Taurus looks down at Sting. "And whooo might you be?"

"Sting Eucliffe, Lucy's boyfriend!"

Lucy sighs and walks over before roughly pulling Sting away. "Anyways, we were wondering if there was anything nice we could do."

Sting pulled Lucy to him when the cow suddenly went stiff and started mooing. "Better keep your pervy eyes away-" He blinks when he saw that the spirits eyes were directed at Yukino instead of Lucy. _Oh good._

"I can't believe my eyes. I had no idea that I'd be seeing two udderly amazing female forms this close together! It's really got me moooving!"

"Uh, I'm.. flattered, but-" Yukino blushes.

"It's the gift that keeps on giving!" Taurus shouts.

"Go home!" Lucy yells angrily before forcing the gate closed.

"That wasn't so bad." Sting shrugs.

"I guess just a look was good enough for him." Lector mumbles.

Lucy pinches the bridge of her nose. "Oh man, we're just getting started with these freaks."

"Don't worry, there's only ten more of the golden keys." Yukino reassures her.

"Man I'm really hungry. Can we go now, Sting?" Lector whines.

"We promised to help the girls so we're not leaving 'till they're done." Sting crosses his arms.

"Aw man, but I'm starv- ahh!" The small red cat starts to say before a hole appears under him and he falls.

"Lector?" Sting starts to panic.

There was a bright flash of golden light before Virgo popped out of the hole with Lector on her head. "That was scary." He mumbles.

"Good to see you, Virgo, but we didn't call for you just yet." Lucy raises an eyebrow at the maid spirit.

Virgo pulls out a small book from her apron and points to it. "Do you remember that punishment diary I was telling you about? Well, I was looking to add to it so as soon as I heard you were gathering spirits, I rushed over as fast as I could. Can you add to it, Princess?"

"So they're already talking about it in the Celestial World?" Lucy asks in surprise.

"Exactly what is it you want us to do?" Yukino asks while walking closer to the other women.

"What I want is punishment. I've been bad, and I truly deserve your worst. So please..!" Virgo begs, a blush staining her cheeks at the thought.

"This couldn't possibly be more wrong." Lucy frowned.

"I'm really looking forward to this. Now let's get to it!" The spirit's eyes shown in anticipation.

"Uh.. Okay.." Lucy mumbles, taking a few steps forward until she was right in front of her beloved spirit. She raised her hand just shy of the pink haired woman's forehead and shut her eyes. Without warning, she struck her with a flick to the area. There was a long pause before Lucy decided to speak. "Sorry about that, is there something else that you want instead?" She asks while lowering her hand.

"Very impressive. One flick of your finger is all I need, the pain is intense." Virgo's eyes shown with happiness. "I feel it from my head to the tips of my toes."

"What?! I didn't really mean to hurt you!"

"It was pure bliss, I will never forget this feeling. Call if you ever need me to dig a hole for you. I can put them all over Magnolia if you'd like." Virgo smiled.

"I don't think that's going to be necessary." Lucy mumbles.

"Well, I'll be on my way now. Goodbye." Virgo spun quickly before disappearing into the ground.

Lucy sighed and summoned Cancer not too long after Virgo left. When he appeared in a flash of gold, Lucy smiled at him. "I'm sure you already know what's happening. So, whatever you want, just ask."

"Very nice, Baby. My pinchers are twitching!" He smiled before quickly slicing his scissors through Lectors fur.

"H-Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" The cat yelled, too afraid to move so he didn't get cut. After a few seconds, he was done and Lector was left shaken.

"What a hot look, Baby!" Cancer shouted happily.

Sting covers his mouth to stifle his laughter while Yukino pulls a small mirror from her pocket. "Would you like to see?" She asks while tilting to mirror towards Lector.

Lector whimpered while looking at himself. He reached a paw up and poked at the large afro atop his head. "It's horrible."

"At least Cancer's happy." Lucy quietly chuckles before sending away her spirit and summoning another. "Hello Capricorn, I'm sure you've already heard the news."

"Indeed. Your thoughtfulness is quite inspiring, Lady Lucy. It's truly a beautiful act of kindness. I have but a simple wish, so, if you will indulge me." He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small black book labeled "Poem". He opens it and begins to read, "Oh glorious light, you shine from the land illuminating the heavens. The heavens return your gaze, bathing you in divine radiance. Brightly you shimmer!"

"So, what's your wish?" Lucy asks in confusion.

"To show my poets heart. For more years than I care to mention I've long to share the gift of verse with you, My Lady. Will you allow it?"

"Yeah of course!" She gives an awkward smile.

"Though clouds may form and obscure your glow, they will amble on hurried by the divine shepherd and once more re-drink in your warming-"

"Should I know this poem?" Yukino interrupts him, "Was it written by anybody famous?"

He closes his book with a smile. "No, I'm the poet in question. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." She gives a nervous smile back.

"Awkward." Lucy mumbles.

* * *

After a talk with Scorpio and finding out he didn't want anything- even after Lucy asked over and over again -she summoned Sagittarius and was not excited when he came out and placed an apple on top of her head. "Hang on a sec! I'm not sure about this! Isn't there something else we can do instead?" She panicked.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lucy, but I've had a hankering for this for far too long a time!" He grinned and aimed his arrow directly at her.

"No please don't!" She squealed and quickly grabbed Lector and placed the apple on his head and held him in front of her.

He struggled against her hold while staring at the spirit in horror. "Why me?!"

Sting plopped down on the ground and chuckled. "We made a promise that we'd help, didn't we?"

"That's easy for you to say, you're just sitting there watching!" Lector shouted back at his friend.

"Hold still little kitty!" He said before firing the arrow.

"No! Please!" Lector tightly shut his eyes. The apple fell to the ground as everyone stared at the results.

Yukino walked over and pulled out her mirror once more. "Would you like to see, Lector?"

Lector sighed sadly at the large bunch of fur missing from his new hairdo. "I don't wanna help anymore."

Sagittarius disappeared and Lucy walked over to the frowning cat. "Hey, I'm sorry. How about we get some fish after we're done here, okay?" She gives him a warm smile and he nods. "Alright, time to move on." She says and summons Gemini. "So, Gemini, I have a question for you. Is there something you've wanted to try, but just haven't had the opportunity yet? Well, now's your chance."

"Oh yeah!"

"This!"

They fly higher into the air before turning into a puff of smoke, leaving a smiling Lucy with a short pink towel around her. "Piri, piri!"

Lucy screams as a large blush covers her face. "Are you serious?!"

"Oh my." Yukino says from behind her.

Gemi-Lucy started dancing around and a large grin covers Sting's face. "Oh yeah, I think I found my favorite spirit!" He quickly gets up and jogs over to the Lucy in a towel. He leans over and smirks at the smiling spirit. "Maybe you should try dancing without the towel?" He asks with a small blush on his cheeks at the thought.

"Like hell you perv!" Lucy shouted and sent a Lucy Kick into his side. "You got what you wanted so it's time for you to scram!" She yelled before forcing their gate closed.

Sting groaned and walked back over to a panting Lucy while rubbing his side. "You seem kinda tired, Babe. You alright?"

"Honestly, my patience is completely exhausted. But, I'm fine I suppose."

"I have an idea." Yukino chimed. At Lucy's grunt of acknowledgement, she continued, "Why don't you relax a bit? I'll take the next one."

"Yeah, that sounds great." She sighed and plopped down onto the grass, Sting quickly joining her along with Lector. "I almost forgot you have spirits of your own. Wow, a little break from the crazy parade sounds amazing right now."

"Now it's my turn. _Open, gate of divine balance; Libra!_ " There was silence after the spirit appeared before Yukino spoke again. "So, I assume you already know why we summoned you here today. Do you have a wish that you'd like us to grant?"

"As _I_ wish." Libra said before activating her gravity magic on to everyone, making them slam into the ground.

"Great, so much for sitting this one out." Lucy groaned.

"Sorry, but we do owe them a favor." Yukino mumbled. "So, are you satisfied yet?"

The spirit stopped not long after and a flash of happiness appeared in her eyes. "Very." She said before disappearing in a bright flash of golden light.

"I've just got one more." Yukino said to her groaning companions. " _Open, gate of the two fish; Pisces!_ " The two fish appeared and started flying around in the sky before the black one swooped down towards Lector. "Oh no, please don't do it!" But it was too late, it had already taken Lector into its mouth. They flew around for a while before Yukino forced the gate closed, causing the giant fish to spit him out.

"This day just keeps getting worse and worse." Lector whines as he swiped at his wet fur. "At least my head is back to normal I guess." He pats the top of his head where the fur had flattened out.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea they wanted to do that." Yukino crouched down to Lector as she apologized.

He stood up with a sad look. "It's not your fault, just embarrassing."

Sting placed his hand on Lector's head with a small smile. "Cheer up, Buddy. I mean, it's gotta totally suck having a fish trying to eat you." He chuckled.

"It's not funny, Sting!" Lector frowned.

"Looking on the bright side, at least the spirits seem to be leaving here in a better mood. The major goal today was to show them some gratitude for all they've done for us." Lucy smiled.

"Yes, they are enjoying it." Yukino agreed.

"On to the next one-"

"Hey, Gorgeous!" Loke smiled while waving, cutting Lucy off.

"What the?" Lucy turned and glared at the lion spirit.

"Killer job the other day, calling us all at once like that." Loke praised.

"How's it going, Leo? Haven't seen you in years." Sting grinned while walking over to the spirit.

"Hm?" Loke stared at the blonde man for a while. He didn't know who he was, but he seemed familiar. His eyes landed on the scar on his eyebrow and moved to his earring. His eyes widened slightly before he gave Sting a large smile. "Well if it isn't Sting! Last time I was you, you were still just a kid! Things are going good by the way, how about for you?"

Sting walked over to Lucy and wrapped an arm around her. "Things are great for me as you can see." He smirked, knowing full well Loke had tried for so long to date Lucy.

"Oh?" He rose and eyebrow as Lucy blushed and pushed Sting's arm away. He pulled out a red rose seemingly out of nowhere and smiled flirtatiously at the two females present. "I heard a rumor that you two beauties were doing sweet things for us spirits. So I have something nice for you."

"You never miss an opportunity, do ya?" Lucy rolled her eyes. "Well, is there anything you had in mind?" Lucy sighed as Sting stood protectively in front of her, then blinked when she saw Loke turn to Yukino.

"You were born to be a Celestial Mage. I can tell just by looking at you." He smiled and placed his hand under Yukino's chin. "The way your eyes sparkle, more brilliant than the brightest star."

"Thanks," Yukino whispered, "you're so kind."

"Gazing into them is like looking into the heavens themselves. No, it's a far more sensual experience. So tonight, just us, alone together. Show me how you really sparkle."

Yukino blushed as she stared into Loke's eyes. "Um, well I.."

"Hey, cut it out! Please try to behave!" Lucy groaned.

Loke ignored Lucy and continued. "So, for tonight, are we one?"

"I don't know what to say.." Yukino turned her gaze to Lucy.

"Nice try, but I think you're gonna have to ask for something else or leave, okay?" Lucy said angrily.

"This was what I wanted, to talk to a beauty such as yourself. Oh, by the way, before I leave," Loke grinned and turned to Sting. " _Regulus Impact!_ " He shouted as his magic shot at the blonde man, causing him to yell in surprise as he was sent flying.

"Alright, you crossed the line, Bub. Back to the spirit world!" Lucy pointed at him in anger.

"Sorry, you can still call me anytime."

"You always just show up on your own anyway!"

"I'm leaving, after this one last look." Loke smiles at Yukino.

"Ugh!" Lucy pulls out his key before forcing his gate closed. "Creepy much?"

Sting walked back over to the group while groaning. "Where the hell did that dumb cat go? I understand he's jealous but that was totally uncalled for." He grumbles.

"You're too late, Lucy just sent him back." Lector sighs.

"That jerk! Next time I see him he'll be sorry!" Sting mumbles to himself.

Lucy sighs before pulling out her final key. "I guess we have to finish what we started with all this. I'm scared. _Open-_ " She stops and stares at the key.

"Is something the matter?" Yukino asks.

"This one's hard to deal with even on their best day. I'm not entirely sure I can go through with it." Lucy take a deep breath before holding out the key once more. "Let's get this over with. _Open, gate of the water barer; Aquarius!_ " She shouts before crouching down and shoving the key into a stream of water.

A large burst of water appeared, drenching them all. Aquarius was left floating in the air with a scowl on her face. "So what the hell do you want this time? You better have a good reason for calling me all the way out here like this. Well?"

Lucy stands. "Oh, I'm sorry but this shouldn't take too long." She smiles nervously. "We're, uh, just trying to be nice."

"Would you just get to the point? I'm in a particularly foul mood today and I've got other things to do!" She shouts back.

"Oh no, are you and Scorpio still having problems?" Lucy asks worriedly.

Aquarius clenches her teeth and shuts her eyes to control her anger. "Speak up, what was that again, huh?"

"What? Nothing," She waves her hand.

"Because I thought you said that Scorpio has been sneaking around behind my back again. That he's hanging out with a bunch of Floozies! That's what you said, isn't it? Tell me!" She growls and floats closer to Lucy.

"I didn't say anything like that, I swear!" Lucy panics.

"Let's move on, and like I said, I am in a extremely rotten mood today so better make this worth my while, you got that?" Aquarius growls.

"Yes ma'm! So, what do you want?"

"Make. Me. Laugh."

"Uh, how? I really don't-"

"Just do a funny skit or something!"

"A skit?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Right! One skit comin' up!" Lucy looks around before her eyes land on Sting. "Sting? Hey, a little help here?"

"What? I'm not an actor." Sting frowns.

* * *

"There is no way in hell I'm going out like this!" Sting yelled as he looked down at himself from behind a changing screen that was brought out by Virgo along with some clothes for him and Lucy.

"C'mon Sting, please? You promised to help me!" Lucy begged.

"I promised to help but I didn't agree to this shit!"

Lucy looked back at Aquarius and saw her annoyed face, then walked over to the screen and lowered her voice. "If you come out and help me, I'll give you a surprise later."

There was silence as Sting contemplated her offer. "What kind of surprise?"

"Well it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you. But, I can guarantee that it will be something worth your while." Lucy had changed her voice to sound husky in hopes that would get him to agree.

Sting stepped out from behind the screen with a large blush on his cheeks. "Fine. It better be good."

Lucy had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing. Sting stood there in a long bright pink dress with a sweetheart neckline, white gloves that rose to his biceps, a red choker, and pink heels. "Wow, you look beautiful." She murmured, trying to keep her laughter at bay.

"I don't understand why _I'm_ the one wearing a dress. You're the girl." Sting grumbled.

"Because it makes the skit funnier if we reverse roles!" Lucy said as she pushed Sting over to a large stone. He laid on top of it and shut his eyes with a scowl on his face. Lucy cleared her throat before doing her best to sound like a man by lowering her voice. "Look, it's sleeping beauty! Please oh please will you open your eyes?" She asked while flailing her arms around. "Whatever shall I do?" She places her hand to her head. "Oh! I know!" She smacks her fists into the palm of her hand. She grabs a giant hammer that was conveniently resting against the stone and slammed it down beside Sting's head. "No, this can't be right. My raw brute strength is way too much for this lass! I cannot risk any harm befalling the princess!"

Lucy saw how Aquarius was getting angrier and angrier by the second and gulped. "Eureka! I know just what to do! Ah yes, it's time to bring out my secret weapon, guaranteed to rouse even the heaviest of sleepers." She pulled out a tissue and twisted it before tickling Sting's nose with it. "It has begun, soon she will be fully awake. My life is dedicated to waking this sleeping beauty." Lucy looked back over to Aquarius and felt herself start to sweat. "It should have worked by now. Please wake up!" Sting's nose twitched and Lucy couldn't help but find it absolutely adorable. She took away the tissue and stuffed it back into her pocket. "Yes, that's it! Silly me. Why oh why didn't I think of doing this before?" She then laid down next to Sting and shut her eyes. "If the fair princess will not awaken, then I simply will join her in her slumber!" She then began to softly snore.

"Lucy!" Aquarius screamed in anger. "That was the worst thing I have ever seen! You made my mood go from bad to worse! Argh!"

"Sorry! I tried my best, I never said I was any good at improvising!" She cried.

"How could you be such an idiot?! I told you to make me laugh, not to piss me off even more! Agh!"

* * *

"Sorry about that." Lucy sighed as her, Sting, and Lector walked into Sting's house. Aquarius had hit them all with a blast of her water magic and sent them all flying. But, Lucy had got snagged on a branch sticking out of the waterfall while everyone else had gone farther. Aquarius had helped her after laughing at her and they had a conversation about her new life. Her spirit was very surprised to find out that Lucy had finally gotten a boyfriend, and a good looking one at that. After she had disappeared, Lucy went in search of the others and found them all climbing out of a river. She had apologized to them and they all walked home to get cleaned.

"It's not a big deal." Sting chuckled and kicked off his boots when he entered his house, Lucy doing the same with hers. "Now how about you go and shower while I find you some clothes to wear."

"No way, I made you do a lot of work so you go shower first." Lucy crossed her arms.

"But that would be rude of a man to let a lady sit in wet clothes and possibly catch a cold." He then grinned mischievously. "We could always shower together?"

Lucy blushed and glared at him. "Get your ass in there before I Lucy Kick you so hard you won't wake up for a week!"

Sting laughed and walked into his bathroom. "Alright, alright!" He said before shutting the door.

Lucy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "That dummy."

"I'm going to go to bed. I'm really tired. Goodnight, Lucy!" Lector smiled before making his way into his bedroom and closing the door.

Lucy waved at the small cat with a smile. _Now I have to think of what I'm going to do as a surprise to Sting. I did promise after all. Maybe I could make him dinner? Tidy up his house? Help him with his paperwork? Take him out on a date? My treat of course. No, none of these are good. Those are just normal things I do on a regular basis._ She placed a hand on her chin and paced around the room. She blushed as she recalled what Sting had said to her before entering the bathroom. "We could always shower together." She quietly repeated to herself.

She took a deep breath and walked over to the bathroom door and pressed her ear against it. When she heard the shower running and Sting's soft humming, she quietly turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. _This surprise will definitely make up for what he went through. I hope._ She closed the door after entering and stripped of her wet clothes. She looked at herself in the mirror and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. _I can do this_. She took a deep breath and licked at her suddenly dry lips.

Lucy walked over to the shower and pulled the curtain back a little so she could slip in. She thought Sting hadn't noticed her yet because his back was to her while he rinsed his chest and stomach. She took this time to appreciate his perfectly sculpted back muscles and had to hold in a moan at the sight of water running down the delicious skin. She reached forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her large breasts against his back.

Sting blinked in surprise when he heard the bathroom door open. Was she in here to use the toilet? He listened carefully to make sure it was Lucy since he couldn't catch her scent from all of the water. He heard rustling of clothes and heard the shower curtain move slightly. His back was facing whoever opened it, and he waited to see what would happen next. He felt delicate hands slide against his skin and he knew it was Lucy, he could never forget those hands. She wrapped her arms around him and he blushed slightly when he felt her large bust press against his back. "Lucy? What are you doing?" He said before turning around in her hold. He felt his member start to harden when he looked down at her. Her large brown eyes darted to the sides before locking with his own, a healthy flush stained her cheeks, and her chest was pressed tightly to him.

"I came in here to give you the surprise I promised." She whispered.

"You don't have to go this far, it was only a dress." He brushed his fingers through her hair before placing a kiss to her forehead.

"I want to." She whispered. "I'm.." She looked away in embarrassment. "I'm not ready to go all the way, but I am ready to go farther in this relationship."

Sting sucked in a breath when he felt her hand slide down his side, to his hip, and then stop next to his now fully erect member. "H-How much farther?"

Lucy bit her lip and placed a kiss to his chest. "We'll just have to see." She said before firmly grabbing onto his shaft. Her blush deepened in color when she felt how large he was. From how his body was built she had expected him to be big, but this was ridiculous. He was long and thick, to the point where her fingertips barely touched. She had no idea if that thing would even fit inside of her!

Sting groaned when she started stroking him. _Oh god, please don't be a dream._ She pushed him lightly to lean against the wall while she slid to her knees. _Holy shit, if this is a dream I might cry._ He clenched his fists at his sides as she looked up at him through her lashes. He had to hold in a moan at the lustful look in her eyes, but it came barreling out when she licked him from the base to the tip before popping the head into her mouth and swirling her tongue around it. "I-I thought you said you were a virgin." He groaned out.

Lucy chuckled, sending vibrations onto him and making him groan once more. She pulled away and licked her lips. "I am, but Cana and Levy have given me some pretty interesting books to read. I've also written about this kind of stuff so I have a pretty good idea on what to do." She explained while stroking him.

He recalled the time she had given him 'The Talk' when he was younger and nodded in understanding. "You're way better at showing than explaining." He grinned at her.

Lucy blushed and quickly popped his member back into her mouth before giving it a hard suck. She smirked at the loud moan he let loose and took him deeper into her mouth, relaxing her throat so she could take him as far as she possibly could.

"Fuck, you're amazing. I love you so much, Lucy." He panted and threaded his fingers into her hair as he rocked his hips slightly.

She felt her heart flutter when he said that. Well, it seemed that every time he said he loved her, her heart would do that. It made her feel warm and safe when he said it. She knew that it was only a matter of time before she said it back. Though, not today.

Sting bit his lip to try to control himself and not thrust into her mouth. Her devilish tongue was doing wonders to him, and he loved her all the more for the pleasure she could inflict on him. When she pulled back until only the tip rested on her tongue and she grabbed his thighs before slamming her mouth forward, he cried out in pleasure. He didn't hold back anymore, he tightened his hold on her hair before pulling his hips back and thrusting them forward over and over again. "Oh god.. L-Lucy, I'm gonna- mmngh!" He clenched his eyes shut as he held her head still and shot his hot seed into her mouth. When he came down from his high, he pulled away while panting. He looked down at the flushed face and teary eyed Lucy and ran his fingers down her cheek. "Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head and grinned at him before swallowing his release. His eyes widened and she giggled at him. _It doesn't taste the best, but I can handle it I suppose._ "You're pretty loud." She stood up and ran her hands over his chest. "How was it?"

"Best blowjob ever." He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her before cupping her backside. Lucy blushed as he started massaging the round flesh and rubbed her thighs together. "Something I can help you with, Lucy?" He purred.

She shook her head and turned her head away, gasping quietly when he started kissing her neck. "Th-This was supposed to be a present for you, not me."

"But it would be an even better present of you let me please you." He nipped at her neck and slid a hand to her front to cup her wet heat. "Well?"

"I-If you want to, I suppose you can." Lucy gasped when he slid a finger against her clit before sliding it inside of her. "Oh, Sting." She whispered and shut her eyes.

Sting changed their position so that she had her back to the wall and leaned his head down to capture on of her nipples between his lips. He felt her thread her fingers into his hair and gave the pink peak a quick suck before sliding to his knees like she had done before. He parted her legs a little more and grabbed her left leg before placing it on his shoulder. He looked up at her and gave her a smirk before leaning forward and running his tongue from her entrance to her bundle of nerves and gave it a few flicks.

Lucy moaned and shuddered at the feeling of his tongue against her most private area. She had never felt anything like it, her fingers weren't even close to the feeling of what he was doing to her.

He reached a hand up to massage her breast while the other teased her entrance. He slid a finger inside of her and started thrusting it in and out of her while he nipped and sucked at her sensitive nub. He enjoyed how she moaned and tightened her hold in his hair slightly while rocking her hips into his affections.

The hot water had started to cool down at this point, but Lucy didn't care, not when she could feel the coil within her winding up tighter and tighter. She gasped when he added a second finger and thrust them faster. Her legs started trembling and she moaned loudly as her release finally came. "Oh, S-Sting!" She cried and tightly shut her eyes.

Sting pulled his head back when he felt her walls clench tightly around his fingers. He looked up at her slightly panting form and stood back up before pulling his fingers out of her. When she opened her eyes to look into his, he grinned and popped the two fingers into his mouth. Her eyes widened and he licked them clean of her release before pulling them out of his mouth. "You taste delicious."

"Sh-Shut up you pervert." She blushed and turned her head to the side.

He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "You're too cute." He reached over and turned the shower off before stepping out and grabbing a towel. He watched as she walked stepped out as well and grabbed a towel. His eyes roamed over her naked form and he nearly groaned. "Damn, I'm one lucky guy. You're perfect."

Lucy smiled and swatted at him with her hand. "I could say the same thing."

"I know I'm perfect." He smirked.

"Well that's the last time I compliment you." She rolls her eyes and wraps the towel around her body.

"I was kidding, Babe. Thanks for the compliment." He chuckled and wrapped the towel around his hips. They walked out of the bathroom and into his room. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers for himself and a T-Shirt for Lucy. He tossed the shirt to her and dropped his towel before slipping the boxers on.

She caught it and stared at the plain white shirt. "You actually own real clothes?" She teased and dropped her towel before slipping the shirt on.

He rolled his eyes and walked over to her, wrapping her arms around her waist and nipping at her cheek. "I do, Ass." He stared into her eyes before closing his and pressing a sweet kiss to her lips. He pulled away and gave her a soft smile. "I'm so happy that you're finally mine."

Lucy smiled brightly and kissed him once more. "I'm happy too." They made their way to his bed, got under the covers and quickly cuddled up together, Lucy's back to his chest and his arms wrapped around her. "Goodnight, Sting."

"Goodnight, Lucy. Thank you for the amazing surprise." He sighed and buried his nose in her hair.

"Tell me one last time before we sleep. I like hearing you say it." She yawned and closed her eyes.

He smiled and kissed her head. "I love you, Lucy."

 **Oh wow, that was longer than expected. I thought it was only going to be about 3,000 words and it turned out to be over 6,000. Oh well.**

 **Make sure to follow, favorite, and definitely review! I love reading what you guys have to say about my stories.**


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